A New Dawn
by Sunfyre the Golden
Summary: It is said that in times of great disorder a new wielder of the Rinnegan is sent from the heavens, this person will either become a god of creation or a god of chaos. When tasked with yet another heavy burden and faced with dark times what sort of god will Naruto prove to be? Will he calm the world from its chaotic stage or will he destroy it? Rewriting - 08.05.2018
1. Prologue I

Prologue: I

 _The sun was setting in the horizon, the sky was painted in red. On the ground beneath bodies laid scattered all over. The landscape of what used to be a flat grass-field was unrecognisable. It was like if the ground itself had been torn up._

" _I am God"_

 _Those that was lucky enough to be alive was either trying to regroup with their unit, or walking aimlessly around the battlefield. Looking for comrades or loved once they would likely never see again._

" _Pain to the world"_

 _A pained scream broke the relative silence that had settled over the battlefield after the fighting had ceased for the day. A teenage girl with platinum-blonde hair was kneeling next to the lifeless body of an older man with matching hair. She had her face buried into the man's chest and was sobbing uncontrollably._

" _Behold, the power of a god"_

 _Up in the sky, far above the battleground a giant 'planet' or comet was floating lazily. Several of the shinobi on the ground was on their knees praying while staring frighteningly up at the giant meteorite, afraid that it would fall down and crush them any minute.._

 _"Those who do not understand true pain can never understand true peace"_

* * *

To say that Uzumaki Naruto was having a bad day would be an understatement. Thus far he had received what he would guess was a lethal amount of Jūken strikes courtesy of Hyūga Neji, then their allies: Suna, decided that today would be just as good a day as any to launch an invasion… Then he had gotten an even worse beating than the one he got from Neji fighting Sabaku no Gaara. Yet through it all he had managed to come out on top! Uzumaki Naruto was never one to go down easy.

However lady luck was never one to favour him, at least not for extended time periods, that she had proven by throwing yet more shit in his direction.. After the battle with Gaara the other people on his team was not really in fighting condition (Not that Naruto himself was, really) so it had been up to him to stall the squad of five Otogakure shinobi that they had encountered on their way back towards the village.

So now he was standing there, watching his death draw ever closer, death in the form of a giant blazing-hot fireball.. He had just closed his eyes accepting his faith when there was a thug on his jacket and he was thrown harshly away from the incoming fireball.

It all happened too fast for him to interfere. After he had been harshly pulled away from danger he managed to tilt his head to see who had saved him, just in time to catch a glimpse of his former Sensei and brother figure Iruka Umino sending him a small sad smile.. Before being consumed by the fires that were meant for him.

That's when it happened! The searing pain in his head and the burning sensation in his eyes. It felt as if his head was about to explode! And while this pain was happening information about things he knew nothing about started swarming his head making it feel as if his head was literally going to burst open. Over the pain he could hear a deep masculine voice 'whispering' words inside head.

" _Rinnegan"_

" _Shinra Tensei"_

" _Rikudō Sennin"_

" _Kami"_

This was just some off the things Naruto managed to pick up on, yet somehow even more information was pouring into his head. And somehow despite not hearing half of it, everything stuck to his brain as if it was things he had always known. In the end it was all too much for him, he could feel warm liquid seeping out of his eyes and then darkness consumed him.

Naruto fell limply next to the dead body of his former sensei and friend. His face covered in blood and a mystical white light/Chakra was cloaking him. When it finally receded and the pained expression on his face seemed to lessen an invisible field of gravity exploded out from him. Decimating anything within a 20-ish meter radius.

* * *

 _ **Naruto's mind-scape**_

When Naruto woke up he was pleasantly surprised that the pain in his head and eyes had lessened. However he was not pleased to see were he was, the dark and gloomy sewer that was his seal was not and probably never would be a place he wished to visit.

He looked towards the cage that held the mighty Kyūbi no Kitsune and was surprised to see the fox in all it's massive glory starring at him with a calculating look. He had expected the fox to mock him and perhaps try to use the fact that his Sensei was dead as means to get him to open the seal.. But it looked curious, not malicious.

Naruto opened his mouth to speak to the fox, but before he could speak he felt a jolt of pain in his head and images started flooding into his mind. Images of the Kyūbi and other weird creatures that he could only guess was the other Bijū, however he quickly realised that this was memories, not random images.. But they were not his memories.

 _"I don't have long any more. Shukaku, Matatabi, Isobu, Son-Gokū, Kokuō, Saiken, Chōmei, Gyūki, Kurama. Even though you have been separated, you shall always be together. Until eventually that time shall come when you will become one… You each carry a name… And with a different shape than you had up to now, you will be shown a righteous path, different from the time you spent inside of me. What is true power… …Until that time…"_

Naruto finally got over the initial shock of what just happened and looked wide eyed up at the Kyūbi. He had never really considered the possibility of the Kyūbi being anything else than a natural disaster. A creature made simply for the purpose of causing destruction. "Your name is Kurama isn't it?"

The Kyūbi remained calm when it gazed down at it's little jinchūriki " **That is what my creator, or father if you want, used to call me yes.. However how a weak little ningen like you came into possession of his eyes is beyond even me"** The last part he said with an angry frown, as if Naruto had offended him somehow.

"Same eyes?" Naruto starred curiously at the giant fox that stood before him. Last he checked there was nothing special about him.. Well except that he had a humongous fox in his gut.

Kurama simply waged his tail lazily, using it to point at the water that covered the ground in the sewer/seal. Looking down Naruto was expecting something to be wrong, however he was not expecting his normally blue eyes to have changed into a deep purple colour with a ripple pattern. "Wh-what happened to my eyes? Kurama?"

The massive fox's left eyebrow twitched noticeably when the 'unworthy' mortal used his name so casually, but he chose not to make a number out of it.. For now. **"That is the Rinnegan. The eyes that my father the Rikudō Sennin used to save the world from the** **Jūbi** **and create what is today known by you mortals as Ninjutsu..** **The power of the Rinnegan is comparable to a god, hence why it is beyond me that a naive little** **human such as you was chosen to inherit those eyes"**

Had it not been for the situation he was in, Naruto would most likely not have just taken that insult to him, even from the Kyūbi. But this was different.. With these eyes, it was all clear to him. This world had failed.. It was only darkness and Pain.

Surprisingly to him however the Rikudō Sennin and the Rinnegan did not seem foreign to him, as it should have! Considering that he had never heard nor learned about either before.. It was as if it was knowledge that he had always possessed, as natural to him as breathing.

"These eyes… I can see everything so clearly. Your father's dreams and hopes for this world.. We ruined it. We humans could not see beyond our own greed and lust for power..." Naruto trailed of a bit trying to comprehend all the knowledge that was still pouring into his head. If only that would happen when he was still an academy student…

Kurama on the other hand was not entirely sure what to make of this sudden and new development from his jinchūriki. This was not the reaction he had expected.. While he did agree with him, he also new what would happen once those fools in the village found out about the Rinnegan.. He knew what he had to do -or rather Naruto had to- but the problem would be to convince him to trust him. **"Naruto…"** Naruto starred bewildered at the fox, did he just call him by his name? Not mortal, Kit or Ningen? No malicious undertone? **"You know what you have to do, not just for yourself, but for this world..** **You saw it didn't you?** **This world that my father cherished so much. But do you have the strength to fulfil your destiny? To make enemies of the people you consider friend's? To kill them"**

Naruto stared in shock at the fox towering before him. Did he really expect him to do that? No, there was noway he could do that to them.. He could never betray Hokage-Ojiisan or Konoha. Not to mention Sakura-Chan.. Yet there was a treacherous voice in the back of his head that told him to do otherwise. _'She will never love you, and the village will turn on you as soon as Ojiisan is gone'_

After contemplating it for a long time he came to his conclusion. "Ojiisan will understand. He will help us achieve your father's dream for this world.. Without restoring to that. I will give Konoha a chance to redeem itself! If not.. I will have to show Konoha and the rest of this world.. Pain. And then I will show this world the will of the Rikudō Sennin! I will give this world true peace!"

For the first time in several decades Kurama had a real grin on is face. Perhaps the time had finally come? The peace tat the old man had given to this world would be restored, and that by what had to be in his humble opinion the most unlikely character. The only issue right now was to make the Kit realise that he would never get acceptance from the village he for unknown reasons cherished. The best he could hope for was for them to tolerate him. And his dream off being Hokage? Ha! That'd be the day. Even for him to find a female willing to mate with him was at best unlikely.. He had seen enough of this world to know the fate of a jinchūriki.

In the end he decided that to bluntly tell him his fate if he were to try and convince the village to stand with him and his ambitions.. **"They will never accept you. Because you are my** **jailer** **they would** **n** **ever even consider what you tell them. No.. You stand alone… Naruto… Well I will help,** **but even I can not stand up to the world.. Not when they are using my siblings as weapons** **against me** **.**

 **If you want to achieve old man Rikudō's dream you can not stay here. And you will need me, like it or not. I know I don't.. But you already know that don't you? Father's eyes grant's you many godly powers, but you have also learned a few of his memories, like the truth of this world. And how it should have been…"**

He knew that Kurama was right.. He knew that the village would never accept him, he even knew the unspoken truth about how he would live and die alone. Unloved. Yet he did not want to turn his back on the village. He had just managed to make a few bonds with some people his own age.. Chōji, Shikamaru, Kiba.. Heck even Sasuke! But was it not selfish of him to put his own want for friends and approval in first line?

With these eyes he understood everything.. He knew that the only possible way for him to bring true peace was to do what the fox said, but he already knew that, the Rinnegan was a powerful tool but more than that it was a curse "I-I don't want to betray them, but neither do I want to turn my back on this world.. I was chosen to have this divine gift for a reason. I must be the one to correct the mistakes. To show this world Pain! My eyes see it clearly, my memories of the Rikudō Sennin does not lie: Only when you know true Pain you can now true peace!

Yet part of me can not be convinced.. Even as I see it so clearly I keep thinking about the people I will hurt by going this path of peace.. Sandaime-Ojiisan and my new friend's, they will all hate me.

Then again.." He looked up and the jinchūriki and the captive locked eyes together, a rare moment were there was no hostility between them like you would expect. Only understanding and -for a brief moment- respect.

"Will I not be helping them in the long term? Their children will grow up in a world of peace. True peace! And I will be the one to lead them on this path. I am the one chosen by the Rikudō Sennin to be a God wandering this earth, sacrificing everything that he is -again- so that they can live happy life's knowing that the Pain I brought with me was only a temporary means to put an end to all Pain and suffering on this corrupted earth?"

Kurama nodded sagely at his words. Yes it would appear that the day had finally come. The day had finally come for a new 'Shinobi no Kami' to rise and restore the world that the Rikudō Sennin created to how it was supposed to be. It would take time and effort, but he choose to put his fate in Naruto.. One last time he would put his fate in the human race just like his father did.

" **I told you that I will help you achieve my father's dream, and I will! However there I have one condition; When the day comes. When peace have been restored, I want you to unseal me and my siblings from their containers"**

Kurama flared his chakra to shut the boy up when he saw Naruto was about to flat out deny him.

" **Father never meant for the world to turn out like this, you know that. But humans can not contain themselves when it comes to power.. They will always seek what they cannot have, just like they will fear what they cannot comprehend. We Bijū were never meant to be tools for you humans to use in war..**

 **No he created us for two main purposes, the first and most important was to keep the Jūbi from ever re-emerging and the second was to keep you humans in check. He knew they would not be able follow his will forever, not when the memories of him faded into legend and myth as they are now.. We were meant to guard you. To keep the peace.. Whenever you would start a foolish conflict we would be there to stop it before it turned into unnecessary bloodshed. But as time passed our legend faded as well, they forgot what we were there for and they started to fear us instead.**

 **And as I already mentioned you humans fear what you can never hope to understand so instead you turned against us, you tried to control us… And in the end you succeeded. When we were split up you managed to take us down one by one, and then you learned to harvest our power.. Or in some cases get my siblings to cooperate with you.**

 **My request is simply that you give us back our freedom and our former 'job' as keepers of the peace so that when you are gone we will be there to guide this world so that the peace will never be broken again.. And we biju have learned from our past mistakes I can promise you that.. When we bring peace to this world it will never be broken again!"**

Satisfied that his little speech had made the desired impact on his little container Kurama laid down and rested his head on his paws. 

Naruto had adopted a rather uncharacteristic emotionless look on his face while listening to Kurama added with the things that he had learned from his Rinnegan he had lost his happy-go-lucky attitude. He just couldn't find that spark to smile any more, there was too much Pain in this world.. He knew too much Pain to ever go back to that fool!

"I'll do it..." It was barley above a whisper yet the fox heard it clear as day. "I will leave the village so that we can sett out on our quest to bring.. Pain to the world. I can never reach my full potential here anyway, out there I can grow stronger so that I can reach my goal"

Naruto looked up at the fox and smiled, it was a smile void of all happiness, filled with sadness and anger. Then he let out a rather creepy chuckle considering the reputation of the boy it was coming from "Who would have ever thought the village fool would snap and runaway before the mentally unstable Uchia?"

Kurama despite himself actually shared in a chuckle at the irony of that. He could totally dig this new Naruto.

" **You will have to prepare yourself Naruto. You will have to wake up from your coma soon, and then.. You will have to make your escape. I recommend doing it now while the village is still dealing with this invasion"** Kurama paused to think for a moment, considering whether or not to give him a little parting gift to help him on his way. In the end he remembered that he did give his word to help, so help he would! He stretched a fisted-hand through the gate that separated them **"Bump fist's with me. I will give you access to enter into the version 1 jinchūriki transformation without being consumed by rage like you normally would.. Combined with the divine power your eyes hold it will give you a significant advantage over your enemies. Least until you are strong enough to rely on your own power"**

Naruto did not hesitate this time, if he was to work with Kurama they would have to trust each other. He bumped fist with the fox, he was overwhelmed by the feeling off power flowing through him. He had used Kurama's chakra a few times before, but he always had to force it, now it just came naturally and without giving him the feeling of rage/berserker state. When the chakra he now had access to receded into him the cage in-front of him started fading away before it was all dark again.

* * *

When Naruto woke up from his conversation with the Kyūbi he found himself exactly were he had been before he went into his mind scape and by the looks of things no more than a few seconds had passed in the outside world.

Taking a quick look around he spotted the burned corpse of his Sensei laying a few meters away from him. He calmly walked over to take one final look at the man that he had come to love so much… He was barley recognisable now, and that only because he knew the man so well. He gave the man one final prayer before taking another look around, to see if there was anyone else nearby.

The Otogakure shinobi that he was half expecting to be there still was dead. As if they had been blown away by some invisible force ' _It was me. My power'_ he thought quietly to himself before calmly walking over to the battered and burned corpse of what appeared to be a boy around his own age, killed before his time in senseless conflict..

Making a quick decision on what he had to do he quickly took of his orange jacket and laid it close to the boy. The corpse was so burned that it could easily be mistaken for his if he were to arrange it that way. Then acting impulsively he took out a kunai and made a deep and long cut to his arm, letting the warm blood spray over the corpse of the boy and on the ground surrounding them.

' _From this day Uzumaki Naruto is dead. All that is left of him is Pein…'_ With those parting thoughts he turned and left the clearing. There was just one last thing he would collect before he left this village, to set out on his quest to bring the peace that the Rikudō Sennin had wanted.

With his goal clear he disguised himself under a **Henge no Jutsu** to look like one off the ANBU members and started making his way towards the Hokage's tower. It would be risky, but there was something there that would aid tremendously to his ambitions so much so that it was worth the risk involved.

The fact that the fighting had not yet died out served him well on his way towards the Hokage tower. On his way there he saw a few shinobi rushing towards the front line, but they were all too busy to take notice of the lone ANBU member making his way over the rooftops.

Even when he made it to his destination his luck seemed to last. The village was at the moment in to much turmoil to take any form of notice of him. Had there been anyone there to guard the tower they were long gone to join in the battle. And the few civilians there did not question the authority of an ANBU member walking towards the Hokage's office with purpose.

* * *

So now Uzumaki Naruto -wait no.. Pein! – Stood yet again on the same spot were he had fought Gaara, taking one last look back in the direction of the village. On his back strapped much in the same manner as Jiraiya kept contract for the Toad summons was now the _Scroll of seals_ the same one that he had stolen almost a year prior.

He took a deep intake of air before setting of on his way to his next destination to meet with some old friends, and hopefully gather his first followers.

* * *

 **Aaaand that is the end of this first chapter!**

 **So what do you guys think? Is it completely horrible, or is it something you would be interested in reading more of? Let me know by leaving a review telling me about what I could do better, or if I did something right! It helps with my writing to get feedback :)**

 **I know that the chapter is rather short, but this is not the length that I was planning on having in the future! This chapter was originally 4500 words, then it was 5000 aaaand then it was 4500 again… But I decided that I would split the prologue in 2 simply because I feel that it will be better for you, the reader..**

 **In the future I plan on having my chapters between 4,5 – 6K words and 'split' them up so to say instead of stuffing all in one long chapter.. Much like the author of the story "Sage" did :)**

 **Also I have not decided 100% about pairings in this story, or well I'm pretty much decided on Naruto x FemHaku, but then again it might change.. Leave suggestions if you disagree, also if you would prefer no pairing.**

 **Next chapter is almost done and will be out next weekend at the earliest! I might delay it until the weekend after depending on how much time I get to work with this story between school and other shit that eats away my free time…**

 ***Oh and I hope you agree on what I did with the Rinnegan? I was uncertain of how I wanted to do it, but I feel like I found a semi believable and original way to do it.. Also I hope it's fine how I did the interaction with Kyūbi.. I personally feel like they came to an understanding too fast, but I was not really sure how to do it.**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Ja né !**


	2. Prologue II

**Prologue: II**

 **Aight so I'm very grateful for the response I got on the first chapter! I know it was a bit rushed (especially with Kurama), but trust me when I say that I struggled a LONG time to get it to a point were I was comfortable with releasing it. And I did not want to have a love/hate relationship with Kurama, nor to have them constantly arguing.. They work towards the same goal so ultimately it would be best to just have them cooperate. Anyway I figured that I could answer to some of the reviews so that you can get a better view in were I plan on going with the story :)**

 **RadioPoisoning: I know that it changed way to fast and I am sorry for that. However that is the only way I managed to write it and still be happy with the outcome of the chapter.. I tried many times to do it differently to make it 'slower pace' but ultimately the chapter I posted was the one that I personally felt was the best and could read without cringing.. As for the pairing I will not make this a romance story. I just felt that it would be good to have a 'voice of reason' that he would listen to.. The reasoning behind me wanting Haku (Besides that I really like the character) is that she would be one of the few that he still considers precious to him, I will not have him form new emotional bonds on that level it would be to far out of character.**

 **Draven32: I know that you have waited for this, and sorry for the long wait! But I'm glad you enjoyed the first chapter :) I have explained my reasoning for it being rushed and I wish I could say it was more to it than me being to inexperienced as an author.. :P Fu is a good suggestion, but it would be too far out of character for him to get in a romantic relationship with her or anyone really.. Even if they are both jinchūriki. I will see if I can't find a place to use her in the story though, I know she is a popular character :)**

 **KyuubiFan325: Nagato does not posses the Rinnegan. I am not even sure if him and Yahiko will be in this story at all. I guess all I can say is read and find out, however I can say that Tobi/Madara will not be left out I have plans for their role in the story. Do not worry I will limit the use of OC's to an absolute minimum.. I do not like it when it's to many of them in a story and very few authors manage to write them in a good and believable way, I do not think I am one who could do that.. :P**

 **Other than that I would again like to say thank you very much to all for the nice response! It helps motivate me to work on this story! :)**

 _"You think you're the only ones who matter. You think you can put off death. But that peace made you foolish and thoughtless. If you kill someone, someone else will kill you… this hatred binds us together. I want you to feel pain, to think about pain, to accept pain, to know pain."_

 _\- Nagato Uzumaki / Pein_

 **Border town to Hi no Kuni – Amegakure no Sato**

Naruto stood in the bathroom of the small hotel room that he had been staying in for the past four days. His escape from Konoha had gone according to plan, there had not been sent any squads to retrieve him, so he assumed that he had been declared dead without to much investigation.

He studied his reflection in the mirror. The face that would normally be full of joy or childish curiosity was now dull and emotionless.. His gaze now held an aura of boredom and superiority, as if he was looking at someone far beneath him. The Rinnegan that had replaced his previously kind baby-blue eyes only helped to enhance that effect.

A single tear dropped from his left eye. He thought about the man that he so affectionately had called Ojiisan only a few days ago, he was dead now. News had spread fast about the legendary Sandaime Hokage's death, the man was still regarded as a legend throughout the world even if he was far past his prime. The news had surprised him, Ojiisan had always seemed so untouchable. He had not even taken into consideration that the man might have been killed during the invasion.. Not before words reached him.

Still it only helped to steel his resolve on what he had to do, besides it took away the only person left in the village he still held any qualms about having to fight in the future. Not because he feared the man, he would just rather not fight the one person that had done so much to try and lessen his pain during his younger days, when he could not defend himself..

Naruto wiped the thoughts from his head before his mind started to wander down potentially dangerous paths. It would not do to start doubting the path he knew he had to walk already the first week.. Besides it was only the Sandaime and Iruka he had truly cared for, and with them dead there was no longer any bonds tying him to that village, no reason to ever look back..

He looked at his reflection once more and frowned slightly at the sight of the single tear mark running down his cheek, he wiped it away with a lazy movement of his index finger. After all crying was not something befitting of a man claiming to be the second coming of God..

Having managed to push the part of him that still possessed fragments of his former self even further into the back of his brain he reached up and untied his headband, the one he had been given by Iruka on the day of his graduation.. Ha studied the symbol for a few seconds and ran his thumb over the Konoha insignia that he used to display with pride, things were different now. He took out a Kunai and made a deep horizontal gash through it, it would be a sign worn by him and his future followers, a sign that they had severed all former bonds or connection they had to their former homes.

Having done that, he placed his Hitai-ate back on his forehead were it belonged. He walked into the tiny living area and fastened the scroll of seals on his back, not like he would leave that lying about in his hotel-room while he attended to business. Lastly he grabbed a straw-hat decorated by bells and torn pieces of white cloth, it was excellent for keeping the Rinnegan away from prying eyes.

X

The streets of the town he was currently residing in stood as the perfect picture of the current situation that Amegakure no Sato was in, Dark and silent as the grave. The constant rain and dark clouds that plagued the land hindered all but the most scarce of sun rays to break through, the streets were full of mud and dirt and if you did see another person on the street you best prepare for a mugging.

However, these things did not really bother Naruto. In fact, it was perfect for him, made it all the easier to keep a low profile while he got things sorted out. There had been a few attempts to rob him, but those with ill intentions had quickly learned that they should stay away from him, if they valued their life that is.

He made his way through the streets towards his location. A couple days prior he had visited the local tailor to commission some new cloths, the ones he had stuck out too much. The shop itself would be described as unpleasant at best, run by an even more unpleasant man, but that did not concern him he was only there for what he had ordered.

While passing one of the residential areas he spotted a few children in the streets having fun playing with a home-made football, it was an uncommon sight and seeing their raged and dirty clothing didn't help to brighten up the mood that had settled over most of the land.

They had stopped their games when they saw him approaching, deciding to move out of his way. He glanced over at them from the corner of his eyes, he felt a strong amount of compassion for them, they would grow up knowing what true pain is. Just like him. So he did what he always wished someone did for him, he showed them kindness.

Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a scroll and made small showing of unsealing a small bag of fruit and some leftover dried meat for them. Understandably they were amazed at watching the 'magic' as he unsealed the items.

"Share it" And with those parting words he continued walking towards his destination. He would rather not spend more time than needed in this place, so the sooner he picked up his wares the faster he could initiate the first task on his to-do list.

At last he arrived at his destination, it looked as gloomy and run-down as the first time he had been there. Walking inside he was greeted with the sight of the store owner Chōhan, a most unpleasant man standing at only 5,2ft he was never one to boast about his height. He had long brown hair tied up in a ponytail and a gold-ring pierced in his septum. There was no doubt that he was deeply involved in the criminal underworld that had sprung to life in this region of Amegakure…

Chōhan smiled sardonically when he saw who it was that entered his shop. "Ahh, Pein-sama it's good to see you again! You are here for your wares I assume? I just made the finishing touch this morning"

Naruto bowed his head briefly as a sign of greeting before pulling a small purse with coins from his pocket. He threw it to the man whom caught it and started counting the coin. When he was done he looked up at Naruto, this time a much more serene yet greedy smile gracing his face. "A man of your word I see! A fine quality, one not many people posses" Naruto felt inclined to tell the man that he did not believe him to be one of those possessing that trait. But he caught himself before he did.

"Do you have it here? I would like to ensure that it is of desired quality before I leave" Even though the man could not see his eyes behind the hat he was wearing he did seem to shrink under his gaze. He was starting to like this feeling of power.

"B-but of course Pein-sama! I have everything right here" He pulled out three identical scrolls and threw him one of them. "Here, this is the one that is fitted for you, everything is how you described it"

Naruto nodded his gratitude "I will go and change then.. I would not like be seen in this abomination of a jumpsuit any longer than needed.." With that he turned and went into the dressing room leaving Chōhan standing there with a slightly revealed look on his face. The man would never admit to being afraid of this boy, yet there was something about him that told him to thread lightly around him.

 **Konohagakure no Sato – Hi no kuni**

All of the Jōnin sensei to the newly dubbed 'Konoha 12' due to their valiant action in defence of the village during the recant invasion by Suna and Oto was gathered on training field 7, with them was the respective members of their teams.

"Yosh Guy-sensei why have we been called here when we could be helping with rebuilding the village to its most youthful glory?" Lee's ever loud and excited voice broke through the comfortable silence that had settled over the group gathered. Even now that he was in a wheelchair he never lost his good spirits, something he was admired for by many of his peers.

For what was the first time for most Might Guy did not join his student in his 'odd' behaviour, but rather he was calm with an odd seriousness about him and he quietly calmed his student down much to the shock of everyone there.

The silence settled once more while the Jōnin's were discussing amongst themselves, however it would not last for long before it was broken again. The group had started to notice the missing presence of a certain loud mouthed individual.

"Kakashi-sensei, were is the dobe?" Sasuke's bored/broody voice broke through, once more interrupting the Jōnin from their hushed conversation.

Kakashi winced slightly when asked. "well you see…." He trailed of slightly casting his gaze down in shame while mumbling something to himself, it went unnoticed by the genin, but his peers could make out what he whispered to himself _'I failed you again Sensei… Obito'_

Gai put a comforting hand on Kakashi's shoulder while Asuma took over the explaining. "Well you see the reason Naruto is not here is because" He paused and studied their faces briefly, most were looking up at him with curiosity but his own student Shikamaru was sitting at rapt attention, his eyes widened slightly in fear and foreboding. Too his surprise Uchiha Sasuke also had the same look of foreboding on his face. He had not expected anyone else than his own student to catch on.

Before he could finish what he was going to say however he was interrupted by Inuzuka Kiba. "Ha, the dobe probably overslept or got himself hurt during the invasion. I'm sure he will be here in five minutes complaining about undercooked ramen or something" He finished with a boisterous laugh, something that was quite common for members of his clan. This earned a round of laughs and words of agreement from the other genin, well except for two of them…

Asuma fired up a fresh cigarette and took a deep drag while the chatter calmed down, then he steeled himself before continuing "Naruto is not here, because Naruto is dead... He died together with your academy teacher Umino Iruka during the fighting" He could see a few tears escaping from Shikamaru who had bowed his head slightly in grief, again surprising him the same happened to Sasuke, only he wiped them away before anyone could see them.

Again it was Kiba that broke the silence, only this time sounding much more subdued "W-what? He can't be dead.. I mean he is a dobe and all, but he always managed to get back up.. Y-you sure this is not a mistake?" The sound of chocked sobs and crying started to fill the small clearing as Naruto's piers finally understood that this was not some cruel joke.

Chōji, Ino and Shikamaru was comforting each other as best they could. Neji was standing completely still with a distant look on his face, Tenten was trying her best to make contact with him but he did not even seem to notice anything, meanwhile Lee was being comforted by Gai..

Hinata had fainted upon hearing the news, Shino.. Well you could not really tell what he felt from under that trench coat, but if the sound of furious buzzing coming off of him was anything to go buy he was obviously upset, meanwhile Kiba was still in total denial over his friend's death.

Haruno Sakura looked over at her last remaining team-mate with pleading eyes "It's not true is it? I mean you were there with him right Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke looked over at her, a few tear stains visible on his cheeks "I'm not sure.. I don't want to believe it, then again I was not unconscious like you, I was there when he sent me and you away for the hospital.."

Sakura looked down in shame "He sacrificed himself for us..?" Naruto had always been impulsive, it did not exactly come as a surprise that he would do such a thing, yet when he had done impulsive and stupid things like that in the past he had always gotten away with it. The thought of Naruto dead did not feel right.

It was at this moment that Kakashi had calmed himself enough to confront his student's. He calmly put his hands on each of their shoulders, making them look up to his somber face. "Naruto died protecting Konoha and all those precious to him, you two included. The best we can do is to try and move on and honour his memory.." He pointed his finger towards the memorial stone, were the name of all those that had died in service to the village was etched in "His name will forever be carved in that stone, a reminder of who and what we have lost.. Don't make my mistakes, move on from this and instead of being consumed by your grief, train, train so that you can on day avenge him"

Sakura wiped her tears away and looked up with determination etched on her face. She had been playing at ninja for too long, this was her first true experience with the harsh life of a shinobi, she would not be unprepared the next time.

Sasuke was having similar thoughts, only he realized that his status as a genius did not mean anything in the real world, he would have to train himself harder. Especially now that he had two people that he had to kill.

Kakashi gave his genin a sad eye-smile "Training will start tomorrow at 5am no delays, not even from me! Go home and grieve, because tomorrow we will start your training towards avenging Naruto, it's about time someone took care of that snake"

Sasuke looked towards the memorial stone and activated his Sharingan, however instead of being in the primary (Right) and secondary (left) it was now a fully matured three tomoe Sharingan. The memory of Naruto's name there and his motivation for seeking vengeance not only against Itachi but Orochimaru as well would forever be burned into his memory. ' _Naruto, Kaa-chan, Tou-san.. I will avenge you!'_

 **Amegakure no Sato**

Naruto stood before Chōhan dressed in his new black cloak. It was decorated with red clouds, to symbolise his goal; to bring upon this world a new dawn, a new era. He had gotten a new pair of black ANBU style pants that was bound with bandages at his ankles. He was happy with the new uniform all in all. Chōhan was held against the wall by his throat while Naruto stared intently into his eyes, the Rinnegan blazing.

"I'm afraid you have served your purpose to me Chōhan… Please understand that this is not personal"As he finished the last part the black chakra-receivers whom he could manifest started to grow out from his face, taking the shape of some rather gloomy piercings.

"B-but Pein-sama I can still be of use t-to you! I-I have powerful connection, I can be of g-good service to you" The man was at the edge of soiling himself, he knew that his only hope of survival was to offer something that this 'Pein' found pleasing.

Naruto released his grip and allowed the man to fall on his knees before him. The man started sobbing uncontrollably muttering his gratitude and giving away promises of money and women. It was all lies, Naruto knew that, it was not as if he was going to let the man live anyway…

Naruto looked down at the man kneeling before him, a frown marring his face. "Look at me" Chōhan looked up at the boy -Kami he could not be more than 12 perhaps 13 – tears still streaming down his cheeks. However, there was a small flicker off hope in his eyes as he looked up at Naruto.

That hope was replaced shortly afterwards a black-rod materialised in his right hand. The spark of hope that had been in Chōhan's eyes was replaced by a defeated look. At least the man knew how to die properly.

He raised his hand in a lazy movement, he carefully took his aim, curiously studying the man's face as he awaited his fate. He was not struggling or prying in fact the spark off life had completely left him as he starred up at his executioner with dead eyes.

He did not prolong it for too long. In one swift motion he drove the weapon forward, it penetrated him through his throat, his eyes widened in pain and a few gurgling sounds filled the room as blood leaked out from the wound in his throat and from his mouth.

Naruto stood completely still while looking at Chōhan's dying form. He realised that life was nothing but a fleeting thing, one moment Chōhan had been alive and happy to do business, the next he was dead at his feet. Deep down he knew the man did not deserve to die like this, but the part of him that might have hesitated was gone now.

Now it only gave him a sensation of power.

Before turning to leave the building he took a moment to study his new appearance, more specifically the piercings he had manifested. They would serve both as an easy way to disguise himself – until he found a more desirable solution – but also as a reminder of his own pain, and to everyone else it would be the face of pain itself, in its physical form.

* * *

 **Konohagakure no Sato – Hi no Kuni**

The day had turned into night yet Hatake Kakashi could still be found standing in front of the memorial stone. He had not move ever since the rest of the genin had been dismissed. With Naruto's death all his past mistakes had returned to him. Obito, Rin and now Naruto.. His sensei's legacy was dead because he was not there to protect him, because he had sent him away to fight Gaara.

The name was now forever carved into this stone to stand as reminder to his failure as a sensei. It had been his duty to protect and nurture his genin so that they could one day stand on their own two feet, maybe even have students of their own one day. Yet he had sent them unprepared into the lion's den, and now because of his action's Naruto was dead..

This was something he could never forgive himself for and he doubted that Minato and Kushina would forgive him either... However, there was one thing he could do before he was sent to face their wrath, he could bring a certain snake with him.

"Do not blame yourself for what happened to Naruto, Kakashi" He tilted his head to the side and was not surprised in the slightest to see the Gama Sennin himself standing there.

"How could I not? I am the one that gave the order that eventually got him killed..." A few tears rolled down his cheeks as he for the first time admitted to anyone but himself what his action had done.

"Orochimaru is the one we should turn our hatred towards. Not ourselves" Jiraiya fixed him with a stern glance "I was his godfather. A title I did not deserve; I never once came back here to spend time with him or tell him about his parents. Or protect him from the villager's wrath, you were the one that protected him during his childhood, you, Itachi and Sarutobi-sensei" He added the last part with sad undertone to his words, he knew he had been a lousy godparent to Naruto.

"I could not protect him all the time. Sometimes we were too late to stop those that meant him harm before they got to him… Some brother I was."

Kakashi looked down at the ground sadly when remembering his past failures. "But what I can do is help train my remaining genin to one day avenge him. Both Sasuke and Sakura seemed greatly moved by Naruto's passing. In Sasuke's case I think this might be what was needed to ignite the will of fire in him, now it is my job to make sure to keep those fires alive, and then one day when I have to faces Sensei and Kushina-sama's wrath at least I know that I did all I could to honour his memory"

Jiraiya smiled sadly "You are not the one that should fear facing those two. I am the one that did not do my duty as his godfather, no Kakashi I say train your team and prepare them as best you can, but when the day come I am the one that will face their wrath" He glanced over at him and smiled once more "Besides we are not sure if it was Naruto's body. While you prepare your team to do what neither Sensei or I could, I will work to find Naruto. As long as there is even the tiniest fragment of hope that he still lives I will not give up searching. Until that day comes killing Orochimaru seems like a good start, né?"

 **Haku & Zabuza's graves – Nami no Kuni**

Naruto stood before the graves of his former enemies. He would be completely unrecognisable if anyone from his past were to see him now. With the piercings he had grown out to help cover his identity (Tendō/Yahiko) coupled with the high collar cloak and straw-hat he was in no danger of being recognised.

And with no witnesses except for a group of kids that knew that he had been in Amegakure he felt rather safe that his tracks had been covered, poor Chōhan was but a necessary sacrifice for his ultimate goal to be completed.

He looked over at the graves that stood before him. He had been contemplating this for a long time and he was not yet sure if he had made the right decision, but he did feel that both Zabuza and Haku deserved a second chance. He would leave it for them to decide what to do with that.

He looked over at the graves and took a deep breath, Kurama had told him about this jutsu and the Rinnegan had already granted him most of the knowledge already. This was going to suck for him..

 **Gedō — Rinne Tensei no Jutsu (Outer Path — Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique)** Out of the ground next to him the ' _King of hell_ ' appeared, or rather his head. Naruto also realised that he could see through the eyes of the ' _King of hell_ ' it was a strange sensation to see through more than one pair of eyes at the same time.

Naruto collapsed to his knees panting, the chakra drain for using this technique was insane! Had it not been for Kurama he was sure he would have been dead already.. He coughed a few times and couldn't help but notice that some blood came up..

Meanwhile the creature he had summoned opened his mouth wide and out of it two green light shot out and into the ground were Zabuza and Haku's bodies were. The earth started to split open and not so long after he could see the bodies of Zabuza; the man whom had died avenging the person he cherished the most, and Haku.. Haku whom had died because she could not bear the thought of living as a broken tool.

A green light appeared in their chest, where the heart was located, it started there but soon it spread out until they were completely engulfed in it. Then the colour started returning to their skin, the wounds they had received started closing and healing and then they started coughing and gasping for air. Zabuza was the first that came back to life and not long after the same happened to Haku.

For a few minutes they were both laying on their back greedily swallowing air. Zabuza was again the first to come to his senses, he looked up at Naruto whom was standing above the graves looking down at them. "Who are you, and how in hell am I still alive?"

Naruto stared intently at them with curious eyes. It would appear that the jutsu had worked as planed. He was about to answer, but Haku who had managed to calm herself beat him to it "Zabuza-sama what is going on, did I not die?"

"I'm not really sure yet Haku.. However, you were dead last time I saw you, and I was not far behind myself" He looked up to Naruto who had remained silent, watching their interaction "I believe you owe us some answer, let's start with what the fuck is going on and who the hell are you, né?"

Naruto nodded and took of his hat allowing them to see his face "We have met once before Momochi Zabuza and you Yuki Haku.. When we last met you battled against me and my team on a bridge here in Nami no Kuni, a battle that claimed both your lives. You will know me by the name Uzumaki Naruto"

Haku was the first to connect the dots and she looked up to Naruto with wide eyes. He was nothing like she remembered him. "Naruto-kun, what happened to you?"

"Heh, so you are the blond brat with the big mouth? I see you have undergone quite the makeover" Zabuza finished the last part with a playful smirk. He sat up straight and the sound of his joint cracking could be heard "Ah shit.. My body is all stiff (pun not intended) I can barley even control my arms.."

"The answer to why you are here is quite simple really.. I brought you back using the power I can wield with the Rinnegan" Naruto regarded the two people he had brought back to life, soon he would know if they would follow him, or if they would continue to live as they previously had..

Zabuza frowned and looked up at him studying his eyes, they were indeed changed into what he could only assume was the Rinnegan. But that was a legend wasn't it? "Lets say that the Rinnegan is not a myth and that you actually do have it, what does that have to do with Haku and I? Why revive us? The only interaction we had was when we tried to murder each other.."

This is were Haku decided to re-enter the conversation "Uhm actually Zabuza-sama I met Naruto-kun in the forest when I was gathering herbs for you. But that was only a brief meeting"

Naruto managed to push himself up to his feet again, still a little shaky after using so much chakra. "I revived you because I feel that you deserved a second chance, that your time had not yet come.. However, what you do next is entirely up to you. I left Konohagakure to become a missing-nin much like you, you can either come with me or you can continue to live like you did before you died. It is for both of you to decide"

For a long moment they both seemed to be deep in thought considering his words. Then Zabuza managed to find the strength to climb out of the grave and then help Haku do the same. When they were both back above the ground Zabuza looked over at Haku and she nodded back to him with a small smile gracing her lips. Zabuza then looked back at Naruto with a serious face "And if we follow you, on what path would that lead us?"

Naruto smirked and fished out two identical scrolls from his pocket. "It will take some time to explain everything.. In short I seek to bring peace to this world, these eyes have showed me many things among them is how the Rikudō Sennin intended for this world to be, I seek to restore that, to bring his will.

Before that can happen I will need more followers so that will be our primary focus for the time being.. We will call our self Akatsuki, and that together with the red clouds we bare on our cloaks stands to symbolise that our ultimate goal is to bring a new dawn" And then as an after thought he added one last thing "When we travel you will refer to me as Pein. Everyone think that I died, and I would prefer to keep it that way until I'm ready to reveal myself completely.. The rest I will explain as we travel, right now I need to rest"

Naruto coughed once more into his arm, he was starting to feel the full effect that this jutsu had on his body and he would need a good and long night rest.. He threw the two remaining scrolls over to Zabuza and Haku "I took the liberty of getting your uniform before receiving answers on whether you would be joining me or not, I'm happy that it was not a bad investment"

And so the Akatsuki was born. With it's first official members being the Kirigakure no kijin and Hyōton no Haku no less.

 **And that wraps up the prologue!**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter and even if you did not please do leave a comment telling me what I can do better in the future! Also if you have any questions either DM me or leave it as a review and it will be answered in the next chapter (if I have an answer to it ofc)**

 **Anyway I hope you have a good day, and I will see you in the next chapter!**

 **Ja né! :D**

 **Edited: 21.11.2016 – Changed the way the confrontation with Cohan turned out to allow different options further into the story.**


	3. Akatsuki I

**So this will be the first actual chapter of the story! Glad to be done with the prologue, I did not enjoy writing that as much as I did this chapter..**

 **Also thank you very much for the feedback, I will try to answer what I can!**

 **Bankai777: Not sure what you mean exactly, but I guess he will. I mean at some point in the story, doubt they'll be friends though..**

 **RadioPoisoning: Now that you say it I agree that it makes perfect sense, I guess I was just to wrapped up in the idea of him being more or less a carbon copy of Yahiko/Pein to think about it, it would have saved me a lot of time writing the last chapter. I considered changing it after reading your comment, but ultimately I decided against it for the simple reason that I had always planned to do it like I did it (Worst excuse I have made so far in 2016), even if your idea was better... Dammit :/**

 **GraphiicChaos: I do have plans for her, but you'll have to read and find out, can't give away too much of the plot-line ;)**

 **KyuubiFan325: I was planning to have her as a close advisor to him and as a 'voice of reason' within the Akatsuki :P**

 **Antex-The Legendary Zoroark: I was not planing on using to many OC's no.. I am open to suggestions if you have a specific OC you would like me to include, but I will not be making him/her into a main character, writing OC is hard, and even harder to do right. That being said I'm sure I could find a place as a supporting character if there is one or two OC's you would like to see in my story! PM me and I will see if I can work with it :)**

 **Also I just realised that I have yet to put in a disclaimer.. :/ Might not be a half-bad idea to do that :P**

 **Disclaimer: I do not in anyway own the rights to Naruto (Manage/Anime) That honour belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.**

* * *

 _"This world is full of things that don't go as you wish. The longer you live the more you realise reality is just made of pain, suffering, and emptiness… Listen… In this world, whenever there is light, there are also shadows. As long as the concept of winners exist, there must also be losers. The selfish desire of wanting to maintain peace causes wars and hatred is born to protect love."_

 _\- Uchiha Madara_

* * *

 **Akatsuki: I – Out of the Shadows**

 **Kusagakure no Sato – Near Kannabi bridge**

"Hey brat! I get that we are going to bring peace to the world and all, but how exactly are we going to achieve that by doing nothing? So far all we have done is wander around and doing odd jobs for two damn months...!" Zabuza's voice was laced with boredom and frustration.

Naruto sighted quietly to himself from his surprisingly comfortable spot up on a tree branch "I want to point out my opinion about you calling me 'brat' but it seems to fall upon deaf ears every. Damn. Time" He noticed himself starting to trail off, and judging by the teasing smirk Zabuza was sending his way, it would get him nowhere this time either. "Anyway, As I have told you before our work can't start before we are all ready and as it stands neither me nor Haku are ready. We need to get stronger and gather more followers, then we can set the initial plan into motion" Naruto said mater of factly.

Zabuza sighted dramatically before he returned his attention to the food he had been put in charge off.

Naruto chuckled internally at the man's antics, this was not what he had imagined it being like travelling with the fared _Kirigakure no Kijin (Demon of the hidden mist)._ Putting those thoughts aside he returned his attention to the scroll he had "Borrowed" from Konoha. He had been working on elemental manipulation, it was one of the perks the Rinnegan granted him was an affinity for all five elements.

Unfortunately, it still required him to work for it as it would any other, however it would be considerably more easy and less time consuming than for regular people. To begin with he had decided to aim big and go for **Doton (Earth release)** and **Katon (Fire release)**. That would give him the advantage of **Doton's** defensive abilities and **Katon's** offensive, the frosting on the cake was that when he reached a good enough mastery of the elements they could be used well in conjunction with each other.

Thus far he had managed to – with the help of **Kage Bunshin (Shadow clone) –** gain decant control over the **Doton** element, he was still no master of the element but, he was at the point where he could mould his chakra into said element and use it well in a combat situation. **Kage Bunshin** sure are amazing once you have learned their secret.

At the moment he had indulged himself in trying to learn one of the more powerful and demanding jutsu the; **Doton: Doryūdan (Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet).** While not on the same level as some of the other Jutsu he had seen in the scroll, he could certainly see it as a valuable addition to his Jutsu repertoire.

Naruto was so indulged in his studying that he did not even notice Haku returning to the camp (Not like he would ever admit that though). He glanced down when he heard someone walking casually into their small camp area, it didn't really come as a surprise to him when he saw the slender frame and long black hair belonging to the sole female member of their 'little group of friends'

Naruto glanced down at her as she walked into the camp, she had been gone for several days now following a lead to a Missing-nin from Takigakure. It had been her own idea that she should be the one to pick up the supplies they needed and/or search for information in populated areas. After all, both Zabuza and Naruto would be pretty recognisable in a crowd, even if they tried to blend in, therefore Haku was the obvious choice as she could blend in rather well.

Naruto almost cracked a smile watching the interaction between Haku and Zabuza. She had come a long way from the girl that willingly asked for death when she realised that she had been bested, it also helped that Zabuza no longer treated Haku as his tool anymore. In fact, he had become quite protective of her lately. It was also nice to see Haku acting so normal. She no longer considered herself a tool, well it had taken Zabuza convincing her but in the end it had worked out well enough.

Deciding that it might be in his best interest to get updated on the latest news or hopefully work opportunities Haku might have found Naruto jumped down and approached the two sitting next to what had become the 'designated eating area'

"Haku, I hope everything went well in Tsuchi no Kuni?" Haku turned around to face Naruto and smiled happily at him. Had he paid closer attention he might have seen that there was a small pink hue adoring her normally pale cheeks, not that it would make any difference if he did.

"Hai. I managed to track him down, however I also discovered some new developments that might prove..." She paused briefly and bit her bottom lip "Troublesome for us"

Before she could finish she was interrupted by Zabuza's slightly desperate voice "Please say we can still do the bounty. If I have to sit here on my ass any longer I might snap!" Just to make his point clearer he snapped his finger at the end.

Haku shook her head in a negative before carrying on with the explanation "As I said I managed to track down our target: Suika... Normally I would have returned with the news of his whereabouts immediately, however when I found him he was meeting with another shinobi that also carried the Takigakure Hitai-ate. At first I suspected that Taki had managed to track him down before we could, but having lived most my life as a Missing-nin I also know how Hunter squads operate.

Bottom line is that they are working together. I heard the man, Suien I believe his name was, talking about something called the Heroes Water and that he would be richly rewarded for his service"

Naruto thought about this new development for a couple seconds. Considering that Zabuza did not react to the new name he did not think that this Suien would prove to be too much for them to handle, but there was always the possibility of… "How many men does this Suien have? Is he working alone or does he have subordinates that we have to worry about?"

"He does not work alone. I listened in on most of the conversation they had and the way I see it there is some sort of power-struggle going on in Takigakure and Suien is leading what I can only assume is some sort of rebellion"

It sounded reasonable, it would not be the first time in history that Civil-War erupted in one of the Hidden Villages.

There was a moment of silence as the three thought about different strategies and solutions to this new problem they were faced with, eventually Naruto turned towards Zabuza, the only one who had actual experience with Civil-War.

"What are your thoughts Zabuza? You are the one here with the most experience in field. What would you suggest our next move to be?" Naruto glanced up at the taller man standing next to him.

Zabuza grinned under his bandages, finally they were done laying around doing nothing. However, he did think it through before he answered "The way I see it there are two alternatives. We could either try and join up with these Missing-nin and help them in whatever it is they plan to do, that way we could secure a lot of bounty from looting alone. However, this tactic will more than likely give us a lot of unwanted attention early on, and that will of course lead to Hunter-nin taking an interest in us.

Or we could warn Takigakure and offer our services to them instead" He glanced down at Naruto who had a hint of dismay in his eyes.

"I know it ain't ideal Gaki, but this is the most secure option for us! Not only will we be put in a more favourable light that again will grant us more lucrative work opportunities in the future, there is also a chance to gain a new ally. Before the whole 'dying and reviving' thing there was a change in leadership in Taki, the village leader died and his son took over, if the way that his own shinobi shamelessly slandered him in broad daylight is anything to go by he does not have much authority which means he might choose to rely on our help instead of trusting his own shinobi. This should be the obvious option, either that or not get involved at all, but I'd rather we do… something"

Haku nodded slowly and looked over at Naruto "That sounds like the best option both for right now and for the future, don't you agree Naruto-kun?"

Naruto closed his eyes and thought over the pros and cons of both alternatives. He knew what option he would choose, he had no choice really. Still he would rather not lend his help to any of the hidden villages. Then again, no one is beyond redemption.

"We need the money and we will eventually need to step out of the shadows... I suppose we will set the course towards Takigakure no Sato then, né?"

* * *

 **Takigakure no Sato – Unknown location**

A couple days had passed since Naruto had agreed to Zabuza's plan to 'ally' with the village of Takigakure. During their time travelling to the village Zabuza had explained a little more in depth what his plans or thoughts were regarding the decision to ally with one of the hidden villages and he had also given both him and Haku a quick intro-course in tactics and warfare. While it was possible that this would not escalate that far it was valuable knowledge to have, well perhaps not for most people, but for them it was…

Unfortunately, Zabuza had never been in the village itself so at the moment they were more or less walking around aimlessly looking for any sign of life, so far they had not been having much luck. So they had gone for plan B: Stay close to where the entrance to the village is, and wait for a Taki to realize there are three suspicious looking characters walking around and send a squad to apprehend them.

As they walked he had noticed Haku glancing at him every now and then, sometimes she opened her mouth as if she was about to ask him something, but then she would stop herself and keep going as if nothing happened.

"What's on your mind Haku?" Naruto noticed that Haku jolted slightly when he called out that he had indeed noticed the small glances she had been sending him.

"Oh... Uhm, well it's just something I don't quite understand" She paused, trying to figure out the best way to phrase her question "You seemed so happy and unmarked by the cruelty in this world when we first met in Nami. You explained most of it, but still I don't understand fully what happened"

Naruto closed his eyes briefly, remembering back to the time before he defected from Konoha "I already told you that I am a jinchūriki, you can imagine how the people will treat you if they believe you to be the Kyūbi no Kitsune rather than the tool that keeps it at bay. Especially when said Bijū attacked and caused great destruction on the village not too long ago." He took a brief pause to let the information sink in "I wore a mask to hide how I truly felt. I suppose that after a while I started to believe that the mask I wore was who I really am. I started hiding my true feelings and emotions, refusing to show them how their hate affected me mentally, I fooled myself into genuinely believing that one day everyone would realize how wrong they were and start seeing me for who I really am, not the demon they believed me to be"

Naruto looked over at Haku, she smiled sadly to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "The day I got the Rinnegan the two people I had left in this world was killed. Had events unfold differently perhaps none of this would never happen. I am but a result of the pain I have endured, and the false peace we live in, that is why I have to end the cycle off hatred and bring forth an era of peace"

He was caught off guard when Haku suddenly stepped in front of him and embraced him, while it was meant as a comforting gesture it ended up being more of an awkward gesture since Naruto just stood there stiff as a plank not really sure how to react in this situation. "We will get there Naruto-kun. Zabuza-sama and I will be by your side all the way!"

Zabuza chuckled internally at the scene playing out behind him, he was about to make a snippy comment to embarrass Haku, however just as he opened his mouth he felt several chakra signatures enter his sensing range, they were approaching fast.

Both Naruto and Haku had picked up on the chakra signatures approaching their position "Zabuza you can do the talking, né? Just remember not to use my real name"

A slight grin spread under the bandages covering the swordsman's face. "Sure thing Pein-sama, Let's just hope these guys are more cooperable than the Hunter-nin's that used to follow me around."

Not long after he said that a squad consisting of seven Takigakure Anbu members had surrounded them. The one he assumed to be the leader stepped forward towards them. "You are trespassing in Takigakure land, explain who you are and what business you have in Takigakure, we do not take kindly to foreign shinobi travelling unannounced on our soil"

"We are not here looking for trouble; we came here to seek an audience with the leader of the village. I am Momochi Zabuza, and the other two are my partners Yuki Haku and Pein" Zabuza spoke in an uncharacteristic neutral voice.

The Anbu leader studied them one-by-one then he gave a silent command and all the Anbu surrounding them drew their weapons simultaneously. Zabuza reached up and grabbed the hilt of his sword while Haku readied a few senbon needles, Naruto just stood there, ready to unleash his own fury should things escalate further.

"We received reports from Konoha several months ago that you were killed in a skirmish against their shinobi. Now I ask again: Who are you and what are you doing in Takigakure? We have standing orders to neutralise potential threats towards the village, do not try to play me for a fool again"

"Dammit, let me show my picture in the bingo book, that should stand as proof enough." Zabuza slowly reached into his pocket, the Anbu surrounding them tensed noticeably until they saw that all he did was to fish out an orange bingo-book. He flipped through a few pages, before turning it around and giving it to the leader of the Anbu squad. "As you can see I'm clearly not dead, Konoha just gave you shit information"

He starred down in the book trying to find any signs of the picture having been faked, eventually he looked back up at the Akatsuki trio "This proves nothing. And even if you do tell the truth Momochi Zabuza was an A-rank Missing-nin, give me one good reason not to kill you right now?"

Zabuza growled in irritation, he pointed towards a random Anbu and started speaking in a commanding voice "You, if you have a bingo-book that is more than four months old, open it up on page one-hundred and nineteen!" Surprisingly the Anbu leader gave the man an O.K to do so, Zabuza really don't like it when people do not recognise him. "And if you kill us you will also kill the only three people that can give you information about a potential threat against Takigakure"

The Anbu commander signalled his men and to their relief they relaxed their stances, they did not remove the weapons, but they no longer stood ready to kill at a moment's notice. "Relay the information to us, we will see it brought to Shibuki-sama for you. He will determine what sort of reward you will be getting, if he deems the information worthy of reward"

Zabuza shook his head negative, much to the Anbu's annoyance "We do not agree to give this information to anyone but the village leader. You'll have to decide if you want to be the one to stand responsible for Takigakure's downfall, or to simply bring us before your village leader."

The Anbu leader shook his head "I cannot in good conscience bring an A-rank Missing-nin into the village, at least not unannounced, nor do I have the authority to do so. I can respect the fact that you will not give away your information without reassurance that we won't betray you, it is not an uncommon practice for Missing-nin to sell favours to the Hidden villages every now and then"

The Anbu leader pause to think for a short moment "Give me a name"

Zabuza starred at him quizzically "A name?"

"Yes, give me a name. You talked about a threat towards Takigakure, so give me a name, if I recognise the name it might help to ease some off the foreboding I have against bringing you with me" Naruto was actually quite relieved that the man seemed to be off that breed that loved his country enough to cooperate with criminals in order to help prevent putting it in danger, perhaps their original plan would work after all.

"Suien, long spiky brown hair and a goatee with small dark eyes. Appears to be in his mid-50's give or take" This time it was not Zabuza, but Haku that had spoken up, she seemed a little uncomfortable when all the attention turned to her, but she still carried on. "I saw him when doing a recognisances mission"

The Anbu leader clicked his tongue and took a long pause to think through what options he had. "As I already said I cannot bring you to the village. However, you talk about a huge threat to our village and to send you on your way or straight out kill you would not only be irresponsible, but it could put our security at great risk. Therefor I will bring you with me to one of our border stations, from there we can contact the HQ and they will with Shibuki-sama decide if you will be allowed to meet with him and present your case" He took a brief pause and signalled to one of his comrades, said Anbu summoned three blindfolds from a storage scroll. "Since we value our secrets here in Takigakure you will have to wear blindfolds when we lead you to our base. Is this agreeable?"

Naruto nodded and reached out to take one of the blindfolds "The terms are agreeable; I hope that in the nearest future we will call each other ally" After having tied the blindfold securely he extended his hand towards the Anbu that they had been negotiating with.

The Anbu accepted the hand extended to him and shook it lightly. "If you are strong enough to travel with Momochi Zabuza I am sure that you will be a valued ally to have"

After that the squad of Anbu started to lead them through the forest area.

* * *

 **Takigakure no Sato – Tsuchi/Taki Border station**

They arrived at the border station after having spent the vast majority of the day walking. Because they had been blindfolded they could not travel at the speed that shinobi would usually travel in, well Zabuza and Haku are trained in Silent Killing and Naruto's Rinnegan allowed him to see chakra even with the blindfold so technically they could... But better not to attract to much attention.

When they entered Naruto was surprised to find so many different chakra signatures there. He could sense people that -judging by their chakra- was other Anbu members, but he could also sense several weaker ones, heck he would even guess that there were some Genin there. It would appear that this was not exclusively an Anbu base.

He did not really get the time to stop and think about it as they were escorted through the building for a good 5 minutes before the blindfolds were removed. When he first regained his eyesight he could see that he was in a rather plain looking barrack. Up against the walls stood several bunks, in the middle was a decant size table and some chairs and in the corner there was a door to a bathroom.

The Anbu they had been talking earlier approached after the blindfolds had been removed from all three. "While you are here you do not have permission to wander outside of this room. I will send a Genin team up here soon with food and drink for you, I will return tomorrow with the answer from the village elders and Shibuki-sama"

Naruto bowed his head to the Anbu as a sign of gratitude "Thank you Anbu-san, you have been most helpful" The Anbu bowed back before leaving the room, locking the door on the way out.

As soon as the door was locked behind him Zabuza collapsed onto one of the chairs, and let out a loud groan. "This... Was tiresome! First we had to convince the Anbu not to straight out kill us for the horrible crime of bringing valuable information to them, and now we are locked in here while the village elders decide whether to hear us out or sell us out for the bounty"

Haku looked over at Zabuza with a questioning look on her face. "What do you mean 'Sell us out' I thought they would just escort us over the border if they decide against hearing what we have to say?"

Naruto went to follow Zabuza's example and sat down in one of the -surprisingly comfortable- chairs, while Zabuza chuckled at Haku's faith in people to do the morally right thing "We are Missing-nin Haku, we've been through this before" It was true, she was always to pure for this line of work, and then when the opportunity had come for her to settle down in Nami she had chosen to follow them without a second thought… "Our contractor is just as prone to kill us for the bounty after the job is done, like that little slime Gato"

She couldn't deny the truth in his words, but she didn't want to think bad about people unless they gave her a reason to. While Zabuza explained things to Haku -again- Naruto listened in, he too agreed that they had put themselves in a dangerous position, but there was one hole in his explanation.

"They have not sealed our chakra" Zabuza and Haku turned their attention towards him. "If they were planning on betraying us don't you think they would have already sealed our chakra for 'security reasons' nor have they taken away our weapons. No I believe that at the very least these Anbu we ran into have honest intentions"

He allowed the information to sink in for them before adding his final two cents "Besides wouldn't you say that Takigakure has gotten rather cocky over the years if they think that Momochi Zabuza would go down without heavy casualties on their side?"

Zabuza chuckled again, then it developed into laughter -A dark laughter mind you- "Heh, if anyone had told me a year ago that I would not only be lectured on something I didn't even notice, but actually take orders from you I would have fucking killed them were they stood. Now though... I think you are the best thing that could have ever happen to me and Haku"

Haku blushed slightly, and Naruto got the impulse to put on a sheepish face and scratch the back of his head, but he didn't, Pein does not do that.

They spent a few moments in silence, waiting for the provisions that had been promised them. Growing tired of the silence that had settled in the room and after watching Naruto once more cough up something she was pretty sure was blood Haku had enough. She stood up and walked over to Naruto. She had noticed that there was something strange about him, yet not had the opportunity to ask him about yet.

"Ano, Pein-sama.." She reached out and caught a lock off his hair in her hand, a lock of hair that was not in his normal yellow color, it was plain white notably standing out from the rest of his hair. "I can't remember you having any white hair when we met in Nami before, you know... We died?"

Naruto contemplated what to say for a short moment, but he came to the conclusion that it made no difference whether she knew or not. "The technique I used to raise you and Zabuza from the dead does not come without a prize" He looked up to meet her eyes. "That prize is that it drains the life force from the caster of the jutsu. The only reason why I could do it and live is because of my tenant. That, and the fact that I'm - most likely - a descendant from the Uzumaki clan"

A look of understanding settled on her face. "So you are sick?"

Naruto shrugged. "For the time being. These eyes has granted me power beyond that of an ordinary shinobi. In other words I can regain whatever life force was drained from me"

It was reassuring to Haku. at least he did not cause himself any irreparable damage by bringing them back. She wanted to ask more, but before she could do that the door to their quarters opened and in came the food and water they had been promised.

Later when they were comfortable with what to say and do during the meeting Zabuza once more walked them through the pincer manoeuvre, then he explained why he believed that the enemy would try to use a tactic called "Punishment" to break the moral inside the village, while at the same time do damage to the economy, and came up with possible ways to counter this before it became a problem.

"Tomorrow the Akatsuki will take its first step on the way out of the shadows, if everything goes as planned here we will not only have the potential for more jobs, but also more enemies. We are not yet strong enough to reveal ourselves fully so we will have to try and keep a low profile in this fight. It is paramount that none of the great villages gain knowledge of my eyes yet" Naruto paused briefly to gather his thoughts. "I remind you again that I will not force you to follow me, if you do not want this you are free to do as you please. Things will get a lot more dangerous from here on"

Haku and Zabuza starred at Naruto as if he had grown a second head. "Heh, I'm not one to get all emotional, but you are the one that made me see what was truly important to me. I will use this second chance you have given me to stand with you and your ambition" It was touching how sincerely Zabuza spoke to him, behind his though façade the _'demon'_ did indeed have a heart.

"Hai Pein-sama, I too will follow you. Just as you consider us precious to you, I consider both you and Zabuza-sama precious to me. I could never abandon you just because things get rough"

Naruto's face remained impassive despite their touching devotion. He gave a simple nod of gratitude before gesturing to the beds placed out for them. "Then you should get some sleep, we never know what tomorrow might bring."

* * *

 **Aaaaand that's chapter 3! :) Well it's really chapter 1..**

 **First off I want to say that I wrote this in 4 hours so if it seems a bit forced some places, that's damn right! I lost 2 weeks of fucking work when my computer crashed and I had to rewrite the whole damn chapter. :/ I considered waiting an extra week before posting this, but it's already been 1 week since I had originally planned to post this so I was already feeling a bit stressed for not having updated in a long time, so yeah... I will rewrite this chapter again if I get too many complaints on it, but I'd rather not if you guys think it is good as it is. As I said I lost 2 weeks of work so I'm literally starting on a blank page with the next chapter. xP**

 **I also got this idea with Takigakure rather spontaneously, and I have yet to actually watch/read that arc, but I thought it might be a cool think to kick shit off with some action. I was planning on making this a whole lot bigger than it was in the anime, I want Suien (rebels) to have an army so that I can create some good fighting scenes and strategy meetings/War-council and shit.. I thought it might be cool, but you tell me what you think :)**

 **So to sum that up quickly; Sorry if the quality on this chapter is lacking, I WILL do better in the future! (And maybe this if I find the time/need to go back and polish it) And I hope you like the idea with Takigakure! :D**

 **Anyway I will see you in the next chapter!**

 **Ja né :D**

 **Edited: 29.01.2017 – Corrected some bad grammar and made a few minor adjustments to close some plot holes.**


	4. Akatsuki II

_**Akatsuki: II – The Unholy Alliance**_

* * *

 _We are just ordinary people driven to revenge in the name of justice._

 _But if revenge is called justice, then that justice breed yet more revenge and becomes a chain of hatred._

 _\- Uzumaki Nagato / Pein_

* * *

 **Takigakure no Kuni – Unknown location**

A thick morning haze had filled the forest making it almost impossible to what was in front of them. They had received the confirmation that they would be granted an audience with Shibuki Takigakure's 'Kage' and his council. They had agreed to listen to what it was they had to say and then they would decide what to do with them based on the quality of that information.

They were allowed to travel without the blindfold for the majority of the trip which was absolutely a vast improvement from when the were first taken to the border station they had spent the night at. It also meant that they could travel at a faster pace, more suited for shinobi.

That being said they would still have to take the blindfold back on when they were close enough to the secret entrance to Takigakure, for security reasons. Naruto glanced to his right where he saw Haku a couple feet behind him, jumping from branch to branch. "Haku, tell me about yourself.."

Haku moved closer towards him so that they could speak without shouting. "I don't understand Pein-sama? What do you want to know about me?" She asked with a somewhat baffled look on her face, clearly not having expected the question.

Naruto returned his gaze forward. "I just.. Want to know more about you. What is it you like/dislike, you're dream for the future?

Haku's eyes widened slightly before a small smile settled on her face. "Oh I understand. I like spending my time with you and Zabuza-sama, and animals, especially Arctic Hare's.." She added that last part more as an after thought. "There is not much that I don't like, well expect for fighting, but you already know that from our encounter on the bridge.."

Haku stopped to think for a short while on the last one, her dream for the future.. She bit her lower lip and for a moment she seemed to be in deep thought, before… "My dream for the future is to be there and help you achieve your dream for peace, that would also see Zabuza-sama's dream for peace in Kirigakure fulfilled!"

Naruto sighted quietly as he heard that last part. The girl really had a hard time putting herself in first line. "Haku, you need to stop lying to yourself. Tell me what your dream for the future really is. I want to know"

"Well.." Haku paused for a second, Naruto assumed that she had never really admitted her dream to anyone, likely not even herself. "I would like to one day settle down in a nice and quiet place.. With someone precious to me" She blushed slightly, and he noticed that she did some nervous fidgeting with her hands. "Perhaps even children one day.."

Naruto did his best to smile – It actually was surprisingly charming- in her direction, he presumed that it worked because she did seem to get a small red tint on her cheeks as she returned it. "I would like it if one day you could make that dream a reality. In a world of true peace"

Haku turned her attention back towards the way ahead of them before replying in a soft whisper -so low he would guess it was not intended for him to actually hear- "Yes, I would like that very much.. Pein-sama"

The rest of the short journey went by without any further conversing from that point. However as they travelled the fog that had been obscuring their view for the majority of their trip did gradually disappear around noon. When they wee finally able to actually see the landscape surrounding them Naruto could not help but admire the beauty of this land, the comfortable silence that once again settled only helped to enhance that natural beauty.

As the name of the land they were in implied there was several waterfalls scattered around. For Naruto whom had never really seen much other than the terrain around Konoha it was an interesting experience to see all of this minor mountains and hills. It all looked so untouched by human hands, unlike the forest surrounding Konoha that -although it was not truly abnormal- was created by the Shodai Hokage's Mokuton.

Unfortunately he could not loose himself in the landscape forever. It felt as only seconds had passed since his brief try at having a 'casual conversation' with Haku had ended before they came to an abrupt halt in a small clearing.

The Anbu leader from the day before stepped forward holding the same blindfolds out to them. "We are not far from the entrance to the village now, I will have to ask you to put the blindfolds back on from here on out"

* * *

 **xxx**

Fortunately they did not need to wear the blindfolds for much longer than an hour before they had reached their apparent destination. The first thing that greeted them when they regained the ability to see was that they found themselves in some sort of valley. In the centre surrounded by a 'moth' was an abnormally large tree, around it there was some buildings -Government buildings most likely- but for the most part it seemed that most of the buildings were on the other side of the 'moth' surrounding the island in the centre.

However they were not they not here to go sightseeing around the village, the Anbu that had escorted them to the village led them quickly down off the mountain they were standing on. Luckily they were allowed to run down the cliff using chakra, and not take the alarmingly old and unsafe looking path that he had originally thought they would use.

As they made their way through the village Naruto noticed that everything seemed to be smaller here than what he was used to in Konoha. Most of the buildings here was also built using wood rather than bricks and concrete.

The Anbu led them silently through the village, deliberately taking the routes least travelled to avoid to much contact with the civilian population, before their charges had met with the village council and it had been decided on what to do with them, they would not allow missing-nin to mingle with the people of Takigakure.

Upon reaching the Administrative building the first thing that struck Naruto was how small it was compared to the one in Konoha. A slight feeling of nostalgia washed over Naruto when they entered the building, inside of it was buzzing with life, Shinobi and civilians alike were running around doing their job. It reminded him of Konoha and the times when he would go and bug the Sandaime Hokage whenever he was bored, but those days are past.

They were quickly led through the building until finally they reached their destination in the form of a huge door with the Kanji for 'Waterfall' written above it in blue painting.

The Anbu turned and bowed politely to the trio. "Our job is done, you will wait here for your appointment with Shibuki-sama" And with that said they took their leave.

Naruto and the two others bid them farewell before finding a place to sit while they waited for the Shibuki and his council to see them.

Fortunately they did not have to wait for too long, hopefully they had taken them and the information they could provide seriously enough not to keep them waiting. The great door opened and a small group of foreign Shinobi walked out, Konohagakure Shinobi..

Naruto recognised them as Nara Shikamaru, Hyūga Neji and Tenten. What caught his eye's was that Maito Gai -Neji and Tenten's sensei- was not there, and instead Shikamaru who was now a Chūnin -Judging by the new vest- was acting as their leader.

Shikamaru studied them briefly with a calculating look as he walked past them, his gaze seemed to linger the longest at Zabuza, or more specifically at Kubikiribōchō. Naruto made sure that the straw hat he had taken to wearing properly covered his face from being seen.

A few minutes after the Konoha team had left Zabuza glanced over at Naruto. "Friends of yours?"

Naruto scoffed at the comment and turned to face his companion and -to a certain degree- friend. "Hn, hardly.. They are old acquaintances of mine from the academy"

Zabuza was about to reply but he stopped himself when the great door once again opened up and a man wearing the Takigakure Chūnin uniform stepped out slightly before bowing to them. "Shibuki-sama has agreed to see you now" The tree of them got up, but they were stopped when the man nervously held up his hand. "I-I'm sorry but you have to leave your weapons here"

Zabuza and Haku looked over at Naruto who shrugged his shoulder before taking of the pouch containing his weapons/utilities, prompting his companions to do the same.

Inside the room they were greeted by what he assumed to be Shibuki sitting next to an older looking man with a craggy face and long white hair. The Akatsuki trio walked up to them and bowed their heads respectfully before sitting down on the mats laid before the village head.

Now that he could actually see this Shibuki up close Naruto was… Disappointed. He looked like a nervous wreck, not at all a man that held the title of village leader. But it was too late to second guess the decision of aligning with him over Suien.

"So you are this Pein character that our Anbu found trespassing in our land.. Hmpf, you are only a child" Naruto glanced up at the man sitting next to Shibuki with narrowed eyes, he did not like the way this man spoke to him, like if he was just some naive child.

The man he assumed to be Shibuki spoke up next with a nervous laugh before Naruto had time to respond to the jab at his young age. "I-I'm terribly sorry Pein-sa.." He paused and looked down at the child, even if he could only see the bottom half of his face he still felt like if his gaze was boring right into his mind. It made him feel vastly inferior to this.. Child. "Ma, sama. I'm sure Senji-san did not mean to offend you"

Naruto nodded his head slowly one time, accepting the apology. "No harm has been done" Naruto drawled in his dull and emotionless voice. Shibuki cringed slightly at the sound of the voice, he was definitely not enjoying this meeting thus far. Even the now named Senji seemed surprised by the Emptiness in Naruto's voice.. As if he was completely dead inside. "However I would like to get down to business, there is no point in wasting any further time throwing jabs at my age, né?"

Shibuki smiled nervously, obviously unsure whether Pein was joking or not. "H-Hai you are right Pein-sama, w-we were told that you had information about one of our Shinobi, Suien?"

Naruto nodded his head, confirming that they had the information. Naruto gestured towards Haku whom had been sitting silently beside him up until that point. "My companion Haku was tracking another one of your missing-nin, Suika when she encountered him meeting with this Suien..."

And so they told them everything that they knew about both Suien and Suika. For the most part it was Haku that explained what she had been witness to the meeting between the two Missing-nin. She did not know much about them or their plans, but she had heard enough to know roughly what their strength was at and more importantly when they be making their move.

Shibuki and Senji listened intently to what they had to say. Even Shibuki whom Naruto had written of as a more or less useless individual sat at rapt attention as they explained, had he not seen the man's antics before he would not have believed that this man was such a huge.. Well, coward.

As the story neared it's end both Senji and Shibuki looked considerably paler, the thought of an invasion against their homeland led by two of the most talented Jōnin they had? They had every reason to be afraid.

Senji was as expected the first calm himself, he looked over at Naruto his eyes had hardened and it was now more clear than it had been before that this was not just some mere councillor, but also a battle tested Shinobi of Takigakure. "How do we know for certain we can trust you _boy_? You are bringing up some very serious accusations, accusations that could have disastrous and humiliating effects on our nation if it is just a set up! I mean for the love of Kami you wont even show us your face!"

Naruto sighted quietly to himself ' _As expected.. They go into denial when hearing something that they don't want to hear'_

Naruto looked up towards Senji, making sure not to allow the man to see his eyes. "You don't know if you can trust us, but you can't afford to assume anything but the worst, we both know that."

Senji looked at Naruto with a slight hint of amusement showing in his eyes. "I do hope that this is not how you planned to make me trust you.. If it is I must say that I'm disappointed Pein-san"

Naruto tilted his head slightly to the side, curiously studying Senji's old face. "No.. I planned to convince you when I offered our service to Takigakure and Shibuki-san in the coming civil-war" Both Senji and Shibuki's eyes widened at that statement. This Pein had said coming civil-war, not just that there was a group of former Takigakure shinobi out there that planned to be a thorn in their side.. No he said civil-war..

"W-What do you mean 'coming civil-war'? You never mentioned that they had the strength to challenge us like that!" You could see the sweat rolling down Shibuki's face, if it was caused by the extreme willpower he used to try and keep a leveled head or simply out of fear he did not know.

Naruto tilted his head insolently to the side "Didn't I? It must have slipped my mind, how silly of me.." Naruto mentally thanked Aburame Shino for giving him the idea of always having a 'trump card' during his fight against the Otogakure Shinobi in the Chūnin exams.

Senji closed his eye's briefly before turning and whispered something in Shibuki's ear, After a brief pause Shibuki nodded his head, agreeing to whatever it was Senji had said.

Senji cleared his throat before once again addressing the trio. "You have given us much to consider, tell me why we should hire you instead of reaching out to one of our allies and speak your terms for helping our village, I'm sure your service does not come for free.."

Zabuza smirked under the bandages covering his face and Haku smiled slightly as it finally seemed that they had managed to secure the outcome they had hoped for.

"As it now stands Konohagakure -your ally- is still rebuilding from the recent attack by Sunagakure and Otogakure, I doubt they will be able to send you any help. Strained relations between you and Kusagakure makes me doubt you will admit to them you need help, never mind them helping you out. And of course there is always Iwa, but you would not risk loosing your alliance with Konohagakure when there is an other alternative?"

A vain started pulsating above Senji's left eyebrow, clearly he did not like the feeling of not being in charge. "It is obvious that you are our best option, but you knew that already didn't you?" He smirked in Naruto's direction. "You have put forth a good case I will give you that.. Tell me your terms, I'm sure you have already decided on what those as well.."

Naruto hid a smirk under the collar to his Akatsuki robe, this was going almost too good. "All we ask from you is the pay equivalent to what you would have paid to Konoha for a B-rank mission" Senji raised an eyebrow, clearly not convinced that they would ask so little. "And we will collect the bounty from Suien, Suika and any further people of.. value, that might have joined his cause"

The proposal seemed to be well received from both Shibuki and Senji for when Shibuki spoke up this time his voice did sound both happy and relieved. "Your terms are fair Pein-sama! We will bring what we have discussed today up with the other members of the council where we will come to a final decision. I hope you understand that this is normal procedure.."

The Akatsuki members rose to their feet and bowed to the leader of the village and his advisor. "You cannot in good faith overrule your council. I understand Shibuki-san, but please keep in mind that time is a factor here.."

They turned to leave but before they could get to the door Senji's voice stopped them. "Before you go there is two things.. Firstly I will make sure to get you suitable accommodations for the duration of your stay here. And lastly" His eyes zeroed in on Naruto standing in the middle of the group. "We have agreed to trust your word Pein-san, do you trust us?"

Naruto starred intently at the old man standing in front of him, silently considering whether or not he should show them just why a man such as Zabuza followed him, and not the other way around. In the end though there was only one option for him if he wanted to keep the job he had just secured. "I sincerely hope I can trust you Senji-san.. I would rather not that you go spreading too many rumours.." He turned to look at Shibuki "And you Shibuki-san? I can trust you?"

Shibuki nodded his head quickly "H-Hai Pein-sama!"

"Well.." Naruto reached up and grabbed the straw-hat Haku and Zabuza gave him uncertain glances. "Lets hope you mean that" And with that he lifted the straw-hat off of his head, keeping his eyes shut. He heard Shibuki gasp at the sight of his pierced face and Senji's humming sound as he studied the face of the 'child' he had originally suspected him to be.

Slowly Naruto opened his eyes, just enough for them to catch a small glimpse of his purple eyes. Senji's eyes shot up in confusion for a moment, but his face soon scrunched up in concentration. Shibuki on the other hand looked even more confused now, but by the looks of it he did not dare to ask.

Naruto placed the hat back on his head, making sure his eyes were completely covered before he opened them again. The chances of Shibuki having the spine to sell him out over his eyes was slim, but it's true what they say 'Better safe than sorry'.

"I took a rather risky gamble in not only showing up here but also revealing my face to you two... For both our sake I hope I will not come to regret doing this" And with those parting words Naruto and his companions turned to leave the room.

xx

Later that night when they were at the hotel room that Senji had promised them they went through what their next course of action should be, now that they had so flawlessly managed to get involved in this civil-war.

"I have to admit that you did one hell of a good job in there brat!" Zabuza's gruff voice complimented him. Zabuza even went so far that he reached out and ruffled his hair, which for now Naruto was oddly enough okay with..

"That was just the easy part, we still have a war to fight Zabuza-san" Haku reminded Zabuza in her gentle tone. Although he just brushed it off, not bothering with such details right now.

"Yes.. I am interested to see what fruits this.. Unholy alliance will bring. Perhaps this village will prove to not be as corrupt as the other's, either way we will see what path they choose at the end of this war.."

Haku smiled gently to him. "I'm sure they will do what is right Naruto-kun! We just have to have a little faith"

* * *

 **Takigakure no Kuni – Rebel outpost**

It had been about one month since the war had started. At first it looked like Suien's number's was lower than first expected, but he had gotten reinforcements from Amegakure in the form of three of their Missing-nin along with a group of drop-outs loyal to them. Apparently this was bigger than tey had first expected.

Up in one of the trees overlooking a small rebel outpost in the northern part of Takigakure no Kuni Naruto and Haku sat, quietly observing what was happening beneath them. There was about seventy or eighty of Suien's men down there, mostly 'cannon fodder' as Zabuza liked to refer to them.

Naruto gave Haku a silent signal with his hand and she disappeared in a **Shunshin (Body Flicker)** to get in position. In the distance Naruto could see Zabuza signalling that he was ready and as one they all performed the same technique. Naruto raised his hand into the seal of confrontation and silently whispered **Ninpō:** **Kirigakure no Jutsu (Ninja art: Hidden mist jutsu)**

His Jutsu combined with Haku and Zabuza's own had the desired effect. Shortly after they had activated the jutsu the clearing was covered in a thick mist, blocking the view even for his Rinnegan.

Then they initiated the next step of the plan: Kill the targets. Naruto leaped off the branch he was sitting on, while in the air he he let loose a barrage of Shuriken towards the location of the camp. **Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shuriken shadow clone jutsu)** The Shuriken he had thrown multiplied into ridiculous amounts before continuing it's decent towards the camp bellow.

He could hear the sound off flesh being pierced and the night was filled with screams. He landed near the middle of the camp if his memory served him right, around him he could see the bodies of several unlucky souls that had been in the way for his Shuriken.

He heard someone screaming out a battle-cry behind him, when he turned he saw a young man -barley in his twenties- charging at him with a Kunai. Naruto reached out and grabbed the hand holding the Kunai while at the same time driving his right hand towards the man's throat.

There was an audible squelching sound as the black-rod he had produced out of his right hand pierced the man's throat. He started making gurgling sounds and for a fleeting moment his eye's filled with fright, but then it was over, the gurgling noises started to die down until they eventually stopped. Naruto released the hold on the rod he had used to take his life and watched as the man staggered back a few steps before collapsing to the ground. Dead.

Naruto spun around towards his original goal; the guard tower. Running through a quick order of hand seals he took a deep breath before calling out **Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu** **(Fire style: Fireball jutsu)**

The massive fireball roared towards the tower, because of the mist none of the guarding shinobi could see it and intercept it before it was too late and it crashed into the tower destroying a large chunk of it while at the same time setting it ablaze.

He could still her the sound of fighting happening around him but it was now starting to slowly die down, Zabuza truly was a demon when he was fighting in the mist.

Having done his part Naruto went to join the others in taking out what remained of resistance. He stopped when he felt two chakra signatures coming towards him, waiting for them to make the move on him.

He would give them credit for the effort, but in the end it was all for naught. In a well coordinated sneak attack to figures jumped at him from either side, both raising katana's ready to decapitate him.

Naruto threw his hands out to the side **S** **h** **inra Tensei (Almighty push)** The two shinobi stopped mid-air and for a fleeting moment it appeared as though time itself had stopped, but that illusion ended when they were brutally thrown away.

This continued for awhile killing off the 'small fries' from Suien's army. Even if he was not yet at his desired skill level Naruto had grown tremendously during the brief time the war had been going on. And now that he was gathering some actual experience he would no doubt be a force to be reckoned with at the end of this war.

Finally the mist started to go away and he could see the scenery around him once again. It was not a pretty sight, blood and entrails was scattered around the small battlefield. Most of the camp was now burning -compliments of his **Katon** jutsu- it filled the air with the stench of burning flesh, It was not a very comfortable smell.

He heard the sound of footsteps coming from behind and turned around to see Haku and Zabuza walking towards him, the latter with a self satisfied grin on his face.

"I take it that you left no witnesses?" Naruto asked in the same emotionless tone.

Zabuza chuckled briefly "No one can escape me in my mist, you have my word"

Haku nodded an uncertain and strained smile on her face "H-Hai no one got out off the mist, Naruto-kun"

Naruto locked eyes with Haku and put what he hoped was a comforting hand on her shoulder "Haku, I know you do not like this and I wish that you did not have to be a part of it, but until that day comes remember why we have to do this"

Haku smiled a much more genuine smile this time "H-Hai forgive me Naruto-kun.."

Naruto withdrew his hand from her shoulder and started walking back towards their camp. "You do not need to apologise for your kind heart Haku, it is a good trait.. Now come, we need to report back to Shibuki-san"

* * *

 **So here it is, the fourth chapter of the story / 2nd chapter of the Akatsuki arc! :)**

 **I know that I was a little late with this chapter, but I had some school things that needed to be done and school comes before writing. Anyway I hope you like this chapter! Next time there will be some more action so I hope you look forward to that, I know for sure I do! :)**

 **Also in regards to that whole conversation with Shibuki and Senji (I know it was kinda short) I considered writing the whole thing, but honestly I would not have written any information that haven't been said in the previous chapter and it felt pointless to force it in just to get an extra 1000 words. :/**

 **I hope you like what I did with the end of the chapter? I feel like I've gotten a little of track from the dark and gloomy mood I wanted to set in chapter 1 and 2 so I thought it'd be a fun idea to put in a little flash forward to how the situation escalates and get some fighting in there? Besides it was either that or me awkwardly trying to fill in half the chapter with random interactions in Takigakure.. I simply thought this was better and it gave me an excuse to write a fighting scene.. Did I do okay with that btw?**

 **Also fun-fact for those who did not know: Senji is not an OC I came up with. He was on Takigakure's council in the novel version of the 'Protect the waterfall' thingy.. I don't know much about him since I haven't read it (And little was said about him) so he will be ooc**

 **As always please leave a review and tell me of there was something you liked/disliked it helps me improve so that I wont make the same mistakes again! :)**

 **I hope everyone is having a good day, and I will see you in the next chapter! :)**

 **Ja né!**

 **Edited: 06.02.2017**


	5. Akatsuki III

**Sorry it took so long for this chapter to come out I did not intend for it to take so long.. Alas I underestimated how time consuming school can be at times and as I stated in the last chapter: School comes first!**

 **That said I will try to get a better writing schedule so that those who enjoy this story knows when to expect an update :)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any characters in this story.**

 **Warning: Never thought to put up a warning really, but there will be graphically described violence in this story. If that is not for you then I advise you don't read this story, if not I hope you enjoy**

* * *

 **Akatsuki III – Takigakure's darkest hour**

* * *

" _In a world built on violence, one must be a revolutionary before one can be a pacifist"_

 _A.J. Mustle_

* * *

 **Takigakure no Sato – Training ground 15**

The civil-war in Takigakure had been going on for two months now. Suien and his army of missing-nin and revolutionaries had crossed the border into Takigakure, leaving death and destruction in their wake. Their sudden assault had caught Taki off guard, and Suien had quickly managed to get control over one of the civilian towns so that he could set up a base to lead his operations from.

So far there had not been any major fighting with the exception of a few skirmishes, even the small border town – Otaru it was called – had been relatively peacefully, mostly because the Takigakure shinobi had been on a tactical retreat in order to meet up with their own reinforcements so that they could set up a stronger front against Suien and organise a counter tactic to his unexpectedly aggressive tactic.

Naruto and his two followers had for now been tasked with slowing down their advance into Taki. They employed hit-and-run tactics in order to slow down the advancing rebel force, using the cover of night to strike and cause disruption in their camps, or if possible eliminating the threat altogether.

Their actions in the war had not gone unnoticed by either side. Shibuki had proclaimed them as a blessing to Takigakure for their service, doubting that their situation would be as it now was if not for Akatsuki and their services. Suien however had openly gone out and proclaimed that he would generously reward he or she who could bring him the body of either member of the Akatsuki. This had of course caused a lot of unwanted attention on them.

Even outside the borders to Takigakure words of Akatsuki had slowly started to spread, at least amongst other Missing-nin they had become the new 'talk of the town'. This was not a problem, it was inevitable that their organisation could not stay hidden, in a world built around espionage there was only so much you could keep hidden.

Naruto was not too concerned that word off the Akatsuki had started to spread, he knew that their name was not commonly known and those who did know of it was far too unimportant for the information to matter. Honestly he was at the moment happy knowing that his eyes and the power they wielded was still unknown, it was not a rumor, not anything, with the exception off his two companions the world lived blissfully ignorant to the power that was about to consume the world.

Sighting tiredly to himself Uzumaki Naruto opened his eyes to take in his surroundings. They were currently back in Takigakure, after spending the last month fighting against Suien and his rebels – or revolutionaries. Depends on who you asked – they had been granted some time to relax while they planned their next move. The first big move in the war, if everything went as planned.

His gaze landed on a lone figure standing in the middle of one of the many lakes in Takigakure no Sato. The figure standing on the lake was his subordinate, Haku, practising her taijutsu and chakra control.

Naruto allowed himself a rare smile as he watched her struggle to improve herself. She had been working to improve herself after she had come to the realization that the gap between her and Naruto was no longer the same as when they fought on the bridge in Nami several months past. Naruto's abilities now far outshone hers, his strength could now rival her former master. On a good day I might add.

He was about to call Haku over so they could search out Zabuza and get updated on when and where they would redeploy. Recent reports said that the enemy was gathering their forces and Shibuki had expressed that he wanted them on the front lines. After their initial success against Suien they had won a lot of respect from the shinobi of Takigakure, enhanced by Shibuki's praise they would undoubtedly help to boost the moral when the inevitable battle broke out.

However, before he got up he could sense someone coming towards them. Due to him and Kurama now working together he was free to use the bijū's ability to sense negative emotions, in other words he could tell that the person approaching them held a lot off negativity or possibly hostility, probably best to stay on guard.

Expecting an ambush, you could imagine his surprise when a tan-skinned girl that could not be any older than him jumped down before him. A genin he assumed. She had mint-green hair and was sporting a wide grin, it looked quite idiotic in his personal opinion. The girl was dressed in a provocative manner wearing only a sleeveless white midriff shirt and a white skirt, she also had some fishnet armour underneath, but that did not exactly make the outfit less revealing. Her appearance and attitude was frighteningly similar to how the old 'him' used to act.

She stretched out her hand to him, her grin widening significantly. "Hey! You are that Pain guy ain't ya? I've heard so much about you! I'm Fū by the way, we should totally hang out, I know all kind of fun stuff we can-" The rambling would have continued had he not raised a hand to stop her. He was right she was very much like his old-self, frighteningly so. He wondered where those strong negative emotions he sensed from her earlier came from.

He did not wonder about that for long, he remembered that he did not care about that at all. While waiting for him to talk she did her very best to try and get a good look at his face, unfortunately for her Naruto did not allow to cross further into his comfort zone than she already was. "I don't care who you are and I am certainly not going to be spending my afternoon with you. Tell me what you came to say or leave"

A hurt look crossed her face but she was quick to replace it with another toothy grin. "Right I almost forgot, silly me... Shibuki-sama called for you, he sent me to tell you that he want you and that other girl to go see him at the HQ, said it was important or something" She spoke in an overly cheerful and exuberant voice, all the time grinning widely at him.

Naruto rose up and walked straight past her towards Haku. She had stopped her training and was now waiting for him, probably to be ready just in case the girl – Fū was it? – did not come with good intentions.

Before leaving the training grounds he turned back towards the girl, thanks to his eyes he could see the small trail left behind by a tear running down her right cheek. For Uzumaki Naruto to leave anyone standing behind like that would be absurd, however, for Pein what others thought off him held little meaning, in fact it was likely better if he was not held in high regard.

Haku fell into pace with Naruto as he walked past her. "What was it she wanted Pein-sama?"

"Shibuki has called us to a meeting. I suspect our vacation has come to an end" Haku nodded understandably and returned her gaze forward.

As they walked through the streets of Takigakure Naruto felt Kurama tugging. It had been a long time since he talked to the fox.

" _Kurama"_ Naruto greeted politely. He was honestly curious about what the fox wanted. _"What can I help you with"_

The fox made humming sound before he slowly started to explain **"That girl…** He paused for a second again making that humming sound **"I believe she might be like you, a jinchūriki. I do not know for sure but the negative emotions coming from her coupled with her scent… And let's not forget she acted like your female counterpart before you came to your senses. Well minus those hideous clothes you swore to wearing, and that's coming from me, an orange fox!"**

Naruto choose not to dignify Kurama's jab towards his old jumpsuit with a respond, it was in the past. The other information thought was. interesting. There was something off about the girl, with all the negative emotions he sensed coming from her the happy-go-lucky personality certainly did not fit. It was as he had concluded earlier, just like him.

" _I too sensed that there was something off about her. I will store the information away for later, I do not wish to destroy the trust we have gotten with Shibuki and this village over mere speculations. Either way we are not strong enough to make a move on the jinchūriki, it would cause an all-out witch-hunt to take us down"_

Kurama made a grunting noise that Naruto could only assume meant that he agreed to his point. He was about to ask his tenant about their recant endeavours in Takigakure when he noticed that they had already reached their destination. Not like the fox was going anywhere, he could do it later.

Naruto and Haku once again found themselves before the door to Shibuki's office. Pushing the doors open they were met by Shibuki, Zabuza and the Anbu commander whom was known simply as Washi (Eagle).

Both Naruto and Haku bowed their heads respectfully and greeted the occupants of the room before walking over and joining them. They stood around a map of Takigakure containing several pieces representing each side in the conflict.

Shibuki turned towards the new arrivals with a grim look on his face. Naruto was in all honesty impressed with how much the mad grown during the time since they arrived. He had quickly found out that for his people to stay united during this time of need he would have to be the one that bound them together, he had managed to overcome much of his cowardice and started to act as a real leader, one that deserved respect. Even Naruto had gained a small ounce of respect for him.

"Pein-san I'm glad you could join us. I hope Fū behaved herself, she has come to idolise you and well…. She is sweet girl, but sometimes she can be a little intense" He finished with an apologetic smile. Honestly it made Naruto glad that he would extend such an act of kindness towards someone he suspected to be a jinchūriki, just like Sandaime-Jiji.

"It was no trouble Shibuki-san – Yes he still refused to call him Sama – she relayed the information" Shibuki smiled kindly. It was obvious that he did indeed care for the girl.

"I'm glad to hear. Well I guess there is no point in further stalling the meeting." He took a deep breath and the grim look returned to his face. "Our forces will be ready to meet Suien and his rebels shortly. The battle itself will most likely take place on an open field, however if they choose to attack us first we will have the advantage off holding the higher ground" Shibuki drew his breath and wiped away some sweat that had formed on his forehead. "Honestly our forces are just waiting for you, Zabuza, Haku and Washi to arrive. We have decided that you and Washi will be in command"

Naruto's eyes widened just a fraction. They would give him a position as commander? "You honour me. Are you not sure there are other's more suited, like Zabuza? I will not fool myself to think I have experience in leading an army."

Shibuki shook his head in a negative. "No. Your contribution in this war have not gone upraised and many of my people – Shinobi included – hold you in high regard. Your presence not only on the battlefield but also as a commander will help to heighten their moral. We have lived in peace ever since the third shinobi war ended, a war we did not contribute much in, so for many this will be their first time fighting in a battle of such a large scale" For once Naruto actually found himself truly respecting the man as a village leader, when Shibuki put all signs of the coward he had once been aside and stared directly at him. "I need the moral of my men to be high for Takigakure to survive. Pein-san I – No Takigakure needs you and your companions if we are to win this war, believe me when I say that your help will never be forgotten!"

Naruto nodded slowly "I have given you my word that we – the Akatsuki – will serve under you and help you in this war, I will not go back on that word"

A relieved look flashed across Shibuki's face. "Good, I'm glad we can count on you. We have arranged that you will depart for the front lines with Washi and a portion of my Anbu after our meeting"

Naruto turned towards the Anbu and Zabuza whom had been quiet throughout his talk with Shibuki "Washi-san, I trust you and Zabuza will brief me on the strategy as we move. If I am to inspire moral it would not bode well if I came ill prepared, né?"

Washi simply nodded his head with a quick 'Hai' while Zabuza grinned madly. Naruto figured he was excited for the upcoming battle. "I don't see why we are still hanging around? It's about time we go and join up with the other _guest_ to our little party"

Naruto reapplied the emotionless and dull look on his face before once more turning towards the village leader. "I agree with Zabuza, there is no point in stalling our departure any longer than necessary. Until next time Shibuki-san" He bowed his head slightly before turning to his other companions. "Washi go gather the Anbu that are joining us we leave as soon as we can"

In an impressing show of speed Washi had disappeared out of the office. Naruto closed his eyes for just a moment to think about what he was about to do _'Time has come for me to feel what war is truly like... I wonder, perhaps there are still things for me to learn about Pain._

* * *

 **Takigakure no Kuni – Takigakure Camp/HQ**

They had arrived late the same day as they departed from Takigakure having moved at a fast pace in order to get to the camp as fast as possible. When they arrived they had been met with cheers obviously Shibuki had been right when he said that Naruto's – or rather Pein's – presence would help to boost the moral as they were now celebrating his arrival. It made him wonder what kind of stories had been told about them.

The weather situation was not exactly ideal. This part of the country had been experiencing unseasonal amounts of rain for nearly a week now making the ground wet and muddy. This of course did not help the already wavering moral in the camp nor did the outbreak of disease that broke out as a consequence off the bad weather. Luckily Takigakure had a small supply of capable Iryō-nin (Medical ninja) that could handle that problem.

Still Shibuki was not exaggerating when he said that the moral situation was dire. Having worked solo (With his two companions) for the most part, and being rather successful, he had not taken into account that the regular forces had been under a lot of pressure from the enemy and they had struggled to defend every inch of their land. And now their last hope was that a thirteen years old boy could manage rally the last of their courage?

He would, his pride was at stake. Besides no-one would take him seriously if he failed in his first mission.

They kept a brisk pace as they continued on towards the command tent. There was much that had to be done and agreed upon and little time to do it. They had to deliver and implement the new strategy that Zabuza had helped cook up while they were in the village, how much time they had to get this done and re-organize their front line depended on when the opposing army decided to make their move.

They reached the command tent to find tree people already there waiting for them. Naruto instantly recognised the Anbu that had first apprehended them when they arrived in Takigakure two months ago he had learned that his codename was Sutōkā. The other two there was a couple of Jōnin that he recognised as Yōrō and Kegon.

After they exchanged polite greetings – or a stiff nod in Naruto's case – they all moved on to the strategic map. "I'm glad you could get here so fast we were not expecting you before tomorrow afternoon. It comes as a blessing though, the situation has worsened drastically the last couple of days... I have not heard the men in such good spirit as when your group arrived in several days"

Naruto nodded his head. Sutōkā had said that the situation had gotten worse, that was not what they needed to hear. "The situation called for us come her as fast as we could. I'm glad we did, the situation here is far worse than we knew, but that is not important for the moment. Tell me in what way the situation has gotten worse?"

He heard Sutōkā make a clicking sound with his tongue before he started explaining the new development in a professional manner, yet Naruto could detect the small ounce off fear – or perhaps it was desperation? – in his voice. "Our scouts have reported an unusual amount off activity coming from the enemy camp, more and more Shinobi has been redeployed to the front lines to join in his offense. There is no doubt that Suien is pouring everything into winning this battle and tip the scale further in his favour. I fear that if he wins here it will more or less cement his victory"

A tense silence settled over the group after hearing that. This meant that Suien now outnumbered them quite significantly and to top it off they did not have the manpower to redeploy more men to this battle while still maintain their other defensive positions. This was indeed some troublesome developments, it would fall on Him, Zabuza and Haku to somehow manage to tip the scale in their favour.

Zabuza decided to tag in for Naruto at this point being the one with the most knowledge on how to deal with situations such as this. "Moving more forces here is out of the question, we cannot afford to give up the lesser positions it would allow them to encircle us or if they are bold enough attack the village itself. Our best option is to prey that they will come to us, giving us the strategic advantage of defending from a higher ground. If not…"

A tense silence followed the pause as everyone in the room – with the exception of Naruto – leaned in closer in anticipation of an 'optional plan' "We just prey to Kami-sama for our Shinobi to fight as if they are possessed. Then maybe, just maybe, we might pull a decisive victory" Zabuza finished with a shrug of his shoulder earning him a deadpan look from Haku and the two Jōnin that was in the room with them.

For the first time since they arrived Washi broke the silence, he turned towards the other Anbu in the room with them. "Sutōkā-san, do you know approximately how many Shinobi the enemy has compared to our own forces? And as the one that has spent the most time in this base, what are your thoughts?"

Sutōkā turned towards his companion. Although he was wearing a mask Naruto could guess that the man was frowning behind his mask. "I would say that they outnumber us by at least five hundred perhaps more. We have roughly one thousand now which would make the battle fairly even, if not slightly in our favour considering that we have Pein-san, Haku-san and the famed Momochi Zabuza helping us"

He paused to draw his breath and gestured towards the strategical map on the table. "But now… With our enemy numbering at least one and a half thousand – likely even more – I would say it is by far in Suien's favour. However, after having scouted the terrain I would not advise a retreat it would only diminish our chances. It is as we already agreed upon: A defensive battle her is ideal"

After a long pause Haku suddenly moved over towards the table standing in the middle of the room. The others looked on curiously as she starred down at the map, sometimes muttering something softly to herself. After a short while she turned towards the others with a small smile.

"Uhm, Pein-sama if I may…" She looked over at Naruto and Zabuza for approval to continue, after getting a nod from Naruto and a grunt from Zabuza she smiled and gestured over to the map.

"I believe I might have come up with a strategy that could help give us an edge"

* * *

 **Konohagakure no Sato – Hi no Kuni**

Senju Tsunade the newly minted Godaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato was sitting behind her desk looking down at an old book. Inn front of her stood Nara Shikamaru, the Nara boy had reported seeing a man wearing strange clothes carrying with him an even stranger sword.

Now while this should be bothering her – considering the man was reported killed almost a year ago – there was something completely else that was nagging her right now. Konoha knew well that Takigakure was in the midst of a civil-war at the moment, a war that had sparked a lot of headaches for not only hear but the other Kage as well.

There had been reports of a boy wearing those very same clothes as this supposed Zabuza – or whomever it really was, it did not matter right now – fighting for Takigakure, he had to her knowledge no allegiance whatever he did before the war in Takigakure was unknown. He was like a ghost, suddenly one-day reports of a boy - no older than most genin - acting like some sort of beacon for hope and victory somehow appeared in her old teammate's spy network. No-one had seen anyone matching his description before, and now he had somehow gained status as a hero in Takigakure? And to top it off he was travelling with two people reported dead, killed by Shinobi under her command no less!

She glanced up at the boy who lazily stood at half attention in front of her desk. "You sure you did not see his face? Not even a glimpse?"

Shikamaru shook his head slowly. "I did not pay much attention to him. Besides his face was completely hidden by a high collar and some weird straw-hat he was wearing"

Tsunade raised a sceptical eyebrow. "Are you absolutely certain? It does not have to be much, just something that might help us recognize him, like a mark, skin color, anything?"

Shikamaru released an overly exasperated sight and rubbed his temples, desperately trying to think back and find just one little detail. "Well.. Not sure how much this helps but I think I saw some sort of piercing on his chin and I'm pretty sure he had a white skin tone" He rubbed his own chin in concentration for a moment. "Yeah.. definitely white, and the piercing was black or grey, that's all I know as I said I did not pay much attention to him"

Tsunade sighted, she desperately needed a drink right now… She waved her hand dismissively at the Chūnin standing before her, not looking up from the book that had captivated her lately.

Shikamaru mutter a lazy 'Hai Hokage-sama' followed up by 'troublesome blondes' before slumping out of the Hokage tower.

After Shikamaru had left her office Tsunade sighted tiredly, for the umphteenth time, trying to remind herself why and how she had allowed her idiot teammate to talk her into taking this job. Speaking off which, she would have to make said teammate snoop around a bit more to get some real information on these guys, just in case.

* * *

 **Takigakure no Sato – Takigakure Camp/HQ**

"Ingenious, how come we have never thought about employing such a tactic before…" Washi muttered under his breath as Haku finished her explanation with a small smile. She was happy she could help, especially when it seems she had actually come up with a game-changer. Well, at least it could help provide them with the window they needed.

The Jōnin, Kegon, was about to comment something but before he could speak the flaps to the tent fluttered open and a woman wearing a Chūnin uniform rushed in. "Pein-sama! Washi-sama! The enemy is approaching; we could not see any white flag. They are attacking!"

Haku's eyes widened while Zabuza loosened the straps holding up his Kubikiribōchō. Washi turned towards his three subordinates and spoke to them in a commanding voice. "Kegon, Yoro you both know where you are assigned to, go, NOW!" Both Jōnin saluted before rushing to get to their assigned positions.

He turned towards the Anbu still in the room before addressing him, the same commanding voice still in place. "Sutōkā, before you go to your post gather your Anbu unit, I need you to relay Haku's plan"

"Hai taichou!" Sutōkā left the room in a hurry, he had little time to inform a lot of people…

Zabuza looked over at Haku and Naruto as he lifted his great cleaver-like sword off from his back and rested it on his shoulder. "I hope you brats are ready" Naruto refused the urge to bristle at his comment of umpteenth time, settling with glaring half-heartedly at the man. "Because you are about to experience your first taste of what war is _truly_ like.

Before they rushed out Naruto glanced over at Haku. "You could join with the medic's, your skills with herbs and patching up wounds will surely be needed there"

Haku shook her head stubbornly, it was not the first time Naruto discreetly suggested she took a non-fighting role. But she could not protect either off her precious people inside a medical tent. Besides, if anyone of them were wounded she would be the one to heal them either way.

Naruto nodded his head slowly. "I understand. Good luck Haku" He paused for a moment before he gently placed his hand on her shoulder "I don't want you to get hurt" He gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze before whispering more to himself than her " _Again_ "

With no time to waste all three rushed towards the centre of the front lines, where Naruto would lead and stand as a supporting pillar for the Takigakure Shinobi.

No-one noticed the distinctly plant-like creature that had been spying on them for some time. The white-half of the creature chuckled – almost cheerfully – as it sank back into the wall it had emerged from.

* * *

 **Valley of the End – Hi no Kuni**

A man wearing an orange spiral mask was sitting for himself on the top of Uchiha Madara's statue at the Valley of the End enjoying the cool breeze. His lone eye was gazing up at the moon that hung above. ' _Soon enough everything will be perfect, a world void off pain'_

The man looked over at the statue of Hashirama Senju standing on the other side of the river, he considered sending a good **Katon** jutsu at it... Just to spite the man. He quickly banished those thoughts, he was not a child, not anymore at least, he was just an adult man that wanted see a man long dead burn.

"Good evening Tobi" A cheerful voice sounded from behind him, Zetsu was finally back with his report.

He did not bother to look at the creature he had created, opting to keep looking up at the moon, it was a full moon tonight and the sky was free of clouds. "Did you find out anything about the Kyūbi Jinchūriki?"

The white-half giggled softly before he set about delivering his report "Oh yes we found, he is quite the interesting character indeed" At this point the black half that had been quiet up until know took over " **The brat has somehow managed to - for all we know - naturally awaken the Rinnegan, he is also travelling with a missing-nin called Momochi Zabuza, I would ask Kisame about him, and a girl that seems insignificant named Haku"**

Tobi chuckled mirthlessly before standing up. "A Rinnegan user eh? Well this sure is an interesting development… To think this.. _boy_ would awaken those eyes" His lone visible eye shone bright red and his body started to warp away. "That would be all Zetsu. I believe I will go have a chat with Kisame and Itachi"

* * *

 **Takigakure no Kuni – The field of battle**

Naruto stood atop a small hill overlooking a great plain-field, well it would be plain but at the moment thousands of enemy Shinobi was charging at their position shouting their war-cry's. Behind him Takigakure's army stood ready to face them. The rain was hammering down on top of them making the ground muddy, for them it was a good thing, it would slow the enemy's decent up the hill.

He could make out the sound off someone vomiting somewhere behind him, he supposed it was a natural reaction when facing something like this. As the enemy drew closer the moral of his own men started to weaver – even with their ' _hero_ ' present – many started to mumble out prayers, but the important thing was that they stood their ground!

They were getting close now, nearing the beginning of their entrenchment. When they got within approximately 70 meters to the beginning of the ascent up the hill their enemy made their first move. With loud war-cry's they unleashed a barrage of attack, from kunai and shuriken to **Katon** and **Suiton** jutsu's.

As the attacks got closer and closer so did his allies get closer to breaking formation and flee. But they had to hold on for a little longer for the enemy to feel the full effect of his power.

The attacks were now getting dangerously close, the kunai and shuriken had started descending downwards to hammer down on them like a shower of metal.

"3"

Naruto raised his arms and held them in front of himself, as if it would help shield him.

"2"

He closed his eyes and concentrated. He only had one chance at this.

"1"

His eyes snapped open. With the Rinnegan blazing he roared out the two words that would bring hope into his allies.

" **SHINRA TENSEI"**

* * *

 **Wow so this arc is taking a lot longer than first anticipated. Originally I planned on finishing it off after 4 chapters. However, now it seems it will be at least two more chapters in this arc (after this one) After that I planned on having one more (shorter) arc before going over to the interlude and time-skip to Shippūden.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter! In the next chapter the battle will begin and I got to admit that I'm really excited to see what you think about it! I have never written a real fighting scene yet so I'm excited to hear your opinions on it.**

 **If there is anyone you want to see join Naruto as a follower, please do leave your suggestions. I have some plans for certain characters but nothing is written in stone yet, so I would be happy to get some ideas/suggestions on people you want to see as Pein's follower. I will also open up a poll for this on my profile (If I figure out how to do it that is) So it would actually be even better if you went over there and voted! That said I won't pick someone if I (for some reason) really don't want to or feel it would be wrong for the story.**

 **Anyway thanks for reading!**

 **Until next time:**

 **Ja Né!**

 **Edited: 06.02.2017 - For plot reasons.**


	6. Akatsuki IV

**Akatsuki: IV – The battle for Takigakure**

* * *

" _It's so much darker when a light goes out than it would have been if it had never shone"_

 _\- John Steinbeck_

* * *

 **Takigakure no Kuni**

" **SHINRA TENSEI" (Almighty Push)**

Purple eyes snapped open, the incoming kunai was so close he could have almost reached out and touched them. For what must have felt like an eternity to the attacking force, time stood still, and all their war-cry's died down.

Then an invisible force sent all the kunai and shuriken that had been thrown scattering away, the jutsu's that had been roaring towards them was cancelled out just before reaching their mark. The attacking force came to an abrupt halt and they could only stare in shock as the projectiles they had thrown was now landing harmlessly on the ground between them and their foes.

For a full minute a deafening silence settled over the field, only broken by the metallic sound of Kunai and Shuriken impacting with the mud covered ground. Then the field erupted into chaos, the shinobi standing behind Naruto finally found their courage and started cheering loudly, praising the young man that had just saved them from a deadly volley and throwing insults at the enemy standing bellow them.

Suien's men also seemed to have gained a second wind after the initial shock had worn off, with several savage roars they drew their weapons and resumed their charge towards the hilltop and the victory that Suien had promised them.

Standing on top off the hill Naruto was watching the men charging towards them. From the corner of his eye he could see Washi making a signal and calling out a command and promptly several shinobi with an affinity to **Doton (Earth release)** rushed forward and formed a line between Naruto, Washi and Sutōkā.

A worried frown briefly crossed over Naruto's face as the shinobi got into position next to him. _'I will be unable to utilise the power in my eyes for at least fifteen minutes. Loath as I am to admit it, without them I will be at a disadvantage in a taijutsu battle. I will have to stay at a safe distance'_ Questionable as his path may be to some he was not fool enough to think that he – a 13-year-old boy – could match a grown man in physical strength, Zabuza had proven that during their training.

Casting those thoughts aside for now he concentrated on the enemy who was getting closer by the second, in fact they were nearing the point where they would initialize the second part of their plan; To cause chaos amongst the enemy lines.

Naruto raised his right hand, ready to give the signal to set their plan into motion.

"Hold" Even though he spoke calmly without raising his voice he could still be heard clear as day by all the shinobi standing beside him.

"Hold" The enemy were closing in on the bottom off the hill now, soon they would start their ascent up towards their position.

"Now!" The enemy shinobi was so close that one with a keen eye could very nearly see the beads of sweat rolling down from their faces, or the gritted teeth and frightened eyes. They were young, too young to really know what they were fighting for.

And now they would die.

As if someone had just hit an invisible 'play' button Naruto and the other Takigakure shinobi standing in the front line started performing hand-seals completely synchronized

" **Doton: Dosekiryū (Earth Style: Mudslide Jutsu)"** The collective yell deafened all other sounds, then followed a deep rumbling sound as the ground that Naruto and his allies stood on elevated a good meter. The rumbling stopped followed by an enormous wave of heavy mud stretching from the far left flank to the far right flank of their line descended down the hill, upon the unsuspecting shinobi below.

Without the time to brace for the impact the wave of raging mud hit them hard. The unfortunate souls in the front line was completely drowned beneath the mud and those lucky enough to somehow manage to get away from the collaboration attack relatively unharmed was about to be hit by another nasty surprise.

As he watched the enemy shinobi try to escape from being drowned beneath the still advancing sea off mud Naruto raised his right hand holding up two fingers, the signal to initialize the second part of their plan.

The **Doton** users that now stood in the first line took a large step backwards and a new group of shinobi, this time **Katon** users, rushed forward from between the gaps to fill in the front line. It's about time to crank up the heat a little bit, ne?

After everyone was ready and waiting for his command Naruto allowed his hand to fall downwards, giving them the go to unleash their attack when ready before he himself started making hand-seals.

Seconds after he had given the go word the fierce cry of several shinobi shouting out their jutsu filled the air. It varied from the common **Katon** jutsu's such as the ' **Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu (Fire style: Grand Fireball Technique)'** and ' **Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu (Fire style: Phoenix flower jutsu)'** or the very rare ' **Katon: Zukokku (Fire style: Searing migraine)'**

As the different jutsu sprang to life the enemy shinobi standing bellow them could only watch in horror as the very heavens themselves ignited into flames and descended down on them. It did not take long before panicked screams filled the air and many of the shinobi standing in the front tried to turn around and run in a desperate attempt to get away from what was without doubt certain death.

It was, however, too late for them to get away. Between trying to save as many of their comrades as possible or ensuring their own survival, the regiments standing in the enemies second line chose to hastily throw up a wide wall of water, effectively squashing all hope that the shinobi in the front had for survival...

That was proven when the massive barrage of fire jutsu crashed into both the shinobi standing down below and the sea off mud that they had released earlier. The sound of screaming filled the air and mixed with the crackling off the flames. Those lucky few who somehow managed to evade the flames was in for a nasty surprise when they found out that their own comrades had thrown up a wall of water. Sacrificing them in order to save themselves.

Naruto looked on in mild curiosity as the enemy shinobi erected the barrier of water to save themselves, with all of his former sensei's preaching about ' _Those who abandon even one of their comrades are worse than scum_ ' he had expected them to try and assist them, missing-nin or not.

Thinking about his _Sensei's_ words got a sour expression to his face, his preaching about saving your comrades was nothing but a foolish misguided philosophy, a product of what that fool Jiraiya had tried to teach him before the Chūnin-exam finals. The mere thought off his peace was laughable _'No... Peace can only be achieved through Pain, when we all share the same Pain, know the same Pain, and have lived the same Pain... Then mankind will come to understand what peace is'_

Naruto schooled his features back into their now normal emotionless folds and refocused his attention down towards the task at hand, this was not the time to get riled up over petty things.

Those beliefs would be history soon enough.

Beneath them the screaming had finally started to die down along with the fire. There was no signs off survivors, only hundreds of charred corpses stretched in a long line across the field. The ground between the two opposing parties was now completely void of any life or vegetation.

However, the technique had done its purpose to the fullest, they had eliminated a large amount of their forces, while they were still outnumbered, they managed to balance out the scale, hopefully it was enough. However, the most decisive damage they had done was the decisive blow dealt to the enemy moral while at the same time further strengthening their own.

His Rinnegan could see it clearly in the eyes off those standing closest to them, the spark had left their eyes. Their will to stand and fight for their cause had left them, they would probably break formation and run when they initiated their charge.

And why wouldn't they? When faced with the power of a God they should know better than to try and stand in his way.

He tore his gaze away from the death below him and looked first to his right where he could make out Sutōkā giving him a signal saying his flank was ready, looking to the other side he saw Zabuza giving him the same signal along with a menacing grin, no doubt he had missed the thrill of battle.

Naruto closed his eyes and briefly a ghost of a smile flashed over his face, however, it was gone as soon as it appeared. ' _At last it begins'_

With his eyes still closed he raised his hand and held them horizontally in front of himself with his palms still open. The effect was instantaneous. He could feel his hair rustling as hundreds of people ran past him, the air was once more filled with taunts and savage cries with promise off pain, loudest of them all was Zabuza's roar as he jumped into the air, his sword raised high above his head.

Naruto himself decided to wait just a moment before he himself joined the battle that was now taking place. The amount off power he had put into his jutsu had left it with a rather long cooldown and he knew that he was too reliant on his eyes as of now to fight effectively without them.

No need to foolishly risk his life.

* * *

 **Konohagakure no Sato**

Uchiha Sasuke had been anything but idle in the days and eventually months following Suna's attack on Konoha. In-fact he was currently at Team-7 training ground relentlessly assaulting one of the trees with a flurry of perfectly executed Taijutsu moves.

A way off relieving the sorrow and frustration from losing his best friend.

Naruto's death had hit him hard. He had tried his best to cut all bonds and prevent making new ones, yet Naruto had somehow managed to establish a bond with him. They were rivals, always bickering and trying to be the first to master a new technique so the one who did it first could one-up the other.

He had never in his wildest imagination thought about their 'bond' as anything more than that of two people with an unspoken agreement to help push each other further. He was an avenger, his sole purpose in life was to kill his older brother, that he had always believed to be something he had to do on his own to restore his clan's honour. Besides he would not drag some poor soul down with him...

Yet despite all these things it was undeniable that Naruto was his friend. No… he was more than that, they were brothers in all but blood. And now he was gone. He could almost see Itachi laughing at him. To be honest Sasuke was not even sure who he hated more right now, Itachi or Orochimaru.

Targeting the tree, he was currently using as the target of his frustration he yelled in anger as he slammed his right fist into the tree with all his might. He came to regret doing that. A jolt off pain shot through his arm after having made contact. A lesson never to throw a sloppy punch like that at a solid object again.

Collapsing down on his knees in a mixture of pain and frustration Sasuke cradled his arm panted heavily, a slightly pained expression marring his face. Soon thought that expression turned into one of fury. Tears started falling down his cheeks and his body started trembling slightly in anger.

' _Why… Why did it have to be him? I could have saved him if only I was not so… weak'_ The memory of Itachi taunting him after having just massacred their whole clan filled his mind. He had also called him weak. Not even worth the effort for him to stain his blade with his blood.

The mixture of anger, frustration and pain finally reached its breaking point and Sasuke threw his head back and gazed up the dark clouds, rain washing down on his face. "Are you happy now, Itachi? Now that I have truly lost EVERYTHING?"

Sasuke stayed like that for a while after his outburst. Just looking up into the dark clouds, letting the rain wash away the tears from his face.

For a moment he lost himself in fascination as he watched the droplets falling from the sky. He could see every little detail in the droplets, from each unique shape to the mesmerizing image they created when they hit the ground.

He stared at the rain as if in a trance wondering why he had never taken notice off this simple beauty of nature before. Sasuke held his left hand before his face suddenly noticing why he could see everything in such details.

' _Oh, My Sharingan… That's why'_ It must have subconsciously activated during his emotional outburst. He quickly deactivated it, letting the world around him return to normal.

Sasuke fought against his sore muscles and forced himself back to his feet, figuring it was time to go home. Well, almost time to go home, he would drop by the hospital first. However, before he had even turned around someone behind him called out to him. "Oy you there, Uchiha brat!"

* * *

 **Takigakure no Kuni**

Naruto bent his body backwards forcing it out of reach from the attack aimed at his throat. He had joined the fighting as soon as he could use the powers of his Rinnegan again. He was currently locked in a fight with an enemy shinobi that was viciously stabbing and slashing at him with a kunai.

He was reluctant to meet his opponents blow for blow considering the difference in pure physical strength that he was still too young and undeveloped to challenge, so he was stuck with evading and seizing opportunities when their guard was down.

Luckily for him said opportunity presented itself to him right now. The enemy shinobi that he was currently fighting had put too much momentum behind his attack leaving his right flank wide open. Quickly taking advantage of the situation Naruto used his left hand to grab the man's elbow, temporarily blocking him from trying to get his guard back up. Meanwhile his right hand shot forward towards the now exposed chest era, a black rod emerging from his palm.

The man's face twisted into pained grimace when the spear pierced his flesh. Naruto wasted little time with breaking the rod in two with a small flick off his hand. He tried to remain standing despite the mortal wound, however, it did not take long before he succumbed to the wound and fell lifelessly to the ground.

Before he had any time to get reoriented he was forced to materialise yet another off his chakra receivers and block an incoming barrage of shuriken. When the weapons had been safely swatted away he narrowed his eyes and glared in the direction they came from.

A group of three enemies stood before him all with their weapons drawn, ready to attack. He was about to engage them when he noticed that it was something off with the environment around him…

He was completely surrounded. Somehow they had managed to put enough pressure on the group he was fighting with to encircle him. It was a good move, occupying him with those shuriken while they got in position to attack him simultaneously from all angles, but it was not even close to good enough.

An unspoken command was given and they all ran at him, readying their weapons to strike at his vitals. As they got closer Naruto raised his hands ever so slightly and waited for them to get closer to him.

When they were close enough he spoke in a low voice, just loud enough for them to hear. **"Shinra Tensei!"** A hazy looking barrier surrounded him, flinging all the enemies away with enough force to knock down several off the unknowing bystanders, almost certainly killing those caught in the technique itself.

When the dust cleared Naruto was seen standing in the middle of a small crater his technique had left behind, beneath his feet was the body of the shinobi he had previously killed.

He had noticed something that piqued his interest when he first killed him. Now that he had cleared the area around him he could finally confirm his suspicions. He used his foot to kick the man over on his back to reveal the Hitai-ate tied around his right bicep.

"Amegakure?" His eyebrow rose slightly in curiosity. When he was there they were in a dire situation, caught up with eternal and economic issues. How could they spare shinobi to assist a missing-nin's coup d'état?

Unfortunately, it seemed you could never have a moment with peace when standing in the middle off a battlefield. Not long after his discovery his thoughts was broken by someone calling out to him. No, based on the arrogant undertone he was being mocked.

"So you are the one they call Pein, the one that's been such a pain in the ass lately… I have to say that I expected someone older, you know not someone that can't be any more than a green as grass genin" The man finished his insult with a confident smirk.

Naruto's eyes narrowed dangerously on the man standing before him. "So you came to find me yourself, Suika. That makes things easier for me"

* * *

On the left flank Zabuza was cutting people down left and right. It had been a long time since he had been in a battle this size and he would lie if he were to say he did not enjoy every moment of this.

He was currently locked in a fight with two shinobi from Amegakure, a loosely clad woman and a man with questionable mentality – based on what he observed – with a piece of cloth covering the lower part of his face, much like that damned Copy-ninja.

The Kunoichi went in to stab him in the chest while the man rushed at him from his flank. A smirk formed on Zabuza's face as he observed the incoming attacks, it had been far too long since he had so much fun in a battle! He would count his battle with Kakashi, but he died... And that sort of took away the fun.

When the kunoichi closed in on him he merely sidestepped making her shot past him and stumble slightly after hitting his foot. With his left hand he reached out and grabbed the other shinobi's wrist and twisted it until he could feel the bone starting to give in to the pressure.

At the same time, he readjusted his grip on the Kubikiribōchō and used it to deal a crushing blow to the back of the kunoichi's head with the flat side of the blade. A pained grunt was all that came out of her as she was sent crashing into the ground, and blissful unconsciousness.

Focusing his attention to the man whose wrist he was currently holding Zabuza continued to twist until the bone completely gave up and the man soon joined his teammate on the ground.

He whimpered and clutched at his broken wrist starring up at Zabuza with fear written all over him. He tried to use his legs and push himself away from the _'Demon of the hidden Mist'_. It did not really do much for him other than prolonging the inevitable by a few seconds.

Zabuza walked up to him and delivered the finishing blow. The man let out a few final desperate attempts to suck in air despite the blood that was suffocating him, however, he soon exhaled for the last time and his body went still.

Zabuza turned around and urged his men to advance now that the only real threat on their flank was taken care off while he himself walked over to the kunoichi laying face first in the mud, he was very interested as to what Amegakure was doing here.

He crouched down next to her prone form and slapped her cheek a couple times, trying to wake her up. There was no immediate reaction but when he poured some of the water from his canteen on her face her eyes fluttered open.

It must have been a truly imposing sight to wake up to, seeing the _'demon of the hidden mist'_ himself crouching next to you with blood spattered all over him, and resting the massive Kubikiribōchō on his shoulder.

Zabuza waved his hand in front of her face, a menacing grin marring his bandage covered face. "Wakey wakey sleepyhead"

The kunochi's eyes widened in fear, she really did not want to die, not like this, not to this… _Demon_.

Zabuza disregarded her fearful face completely. He just kept looking at her with that menacing grin. "You want to tell me what the hell shinobi from Amegakure is doing here?"

The girl tried to put up a brave façade, she closed her eyes and firmly shook her head.

Zabuza let out an exasperated sigh. "Let me rephrase that: Either you be a good girl and tell me your orders or I will hand you over to my leader" Her eyes opened in fear yet again, she looked almost pleadingly at Zabuza. His smirk widened into a grin, seems he still got it, but just to be sure he got everything he wanted… "And let me tell you that if your scared of me you are going to hate him; he gives **me** the creeps"

It had the desired effect, even if it was a white-lie from Zabuza's side. She looked at Zabuza with wide fearful eyes, for a moment contemplating whether to tell him or not. Eventually her gaze fell back on the man crouching beside her.

"Hanzo-sama sent us here to help in exchange for assistance when the coup here was complete. That's all I know, I swear!"

Zabuza patted her on the head muttering 'good girl' before standing up. "I believe you. Please don't hold it against me, but I can't exactly just leave you like this…"

Hear head fell back on the ground in defeat, the small hope she had been clinging on was gone. "I understand"

* * *

Haku stood inside her ice mirror looking down on the foe that was captured inside. He was a muscular man with hair and a blue mark/tattoo going over his nose.

He had put up a good fight, he could match her speed and evade most of her attacks, but in the end she had managed to capture him in the " **Makyō Hyōshō (Secret Jutsu: Crystal Ice Mirrors)"** after having disabled some of his movements with a few well-placed senbon.

"Only one person has ever escaped from this technique before. Unfortunately, I don't believe you can stand up to his level" She looked down at the man with a sad expression. She really did not like killing, but for Naruto and Zabuza she would do it without hesitation. Still it brought pain to her heart.

"Don't count me out yet you little bitch!" The man yelled while starting a chain of hand-seals. He did not come far however before a flurry of movement and a wave of senbon needles disabled the use of his arms.

"This is the end for you. Please don't think to poorly of me"

And with that followed a new flurry of movement and senbon needles. When Haku reappeared back in the mirrors the man was lying face first on the ground, his back being something more akin to a hedgehog.

She stepped out from her mirror and allowed the mirrors to melt into water. They had won the day, many of the enemy shinobi had routed and was running away others had surrendered to them while some still held on to the hope of the victory they had been promised.

Either way they had won the day the only thing left for them was to round up the remaining enemies and collect the wounded from both sides, and that was exactly what she was going to do now!"

* * *

 **Konohagakure no Sato**

"Oy you there, Uchiha brat!" Sasuke turned around looking for whoever had called his name. he was surprised when of all people he saw Jiraiya of the Sannin walking towards him, raising a hand in a lazy greeting.

"Jiraiya-sama, how can I help you?" Sasuke quirked an eyebrow in curiosity as to what one of the Sannin would want with him – Well this Sannin in particular, he knew well what the other male Sannin wanted with him – the thought made him suppress a shudder.

"Ah nothing much, I just wanted to see how you are holding up" The man smiled in a carefree manner as he strolled up to Sasuke and sat down on a tree stump next to where he was standing.

"What do you mean. I'm doing fine" Sasuke looked sceptically at the man. He was not sure what he wanted from him, he understood that he was here to talk about Naruto, but why? He had just met Jiraiya during Naruto's funeral and he had no reason to believe he knew Naruto any more than the one month he had trained him for the Chūnin exams.

The man's features soften from his previously cheerful demeanour into a more serious one, showing understanding to what Sasuke was going through. "I lost a teammate to you know. Not in the same way – unfortunately – but I still lost a childhood friend because of evil men's lust for power"

Sasuke's eyes widened. He had never once considered that Orochimaru actually had people that genuinely cared for him. In a small uncertain voice, he asked the question that he had not yet managed to ask Kakashi. "How did you deal with? With him gone there is nothing left for me… How am I supposed to deal with it?"

Jiraiya closed his eyes seemingly in deep thought for a moment a fond smile crossed his face and he opened his eyes to stare directly into Sasuke's. "I hold on to the memory I have of him when we were still a team. The same way as I hold onto the memory of my sensei and the students I failed to protect. The pain may never go away, but memories will never disappear no matter how hard you try" A grimace crossed his face. "That goes both ways of course but something I have found is that the good memories will always manage to suppress the bad as long as you don't let them take control"

A small smile made its way onto Sasuke's face. "I do have many good memories with the idiot that I can cherish… and with my family, however, I don't think I will ever be able to forgive them"

Jiraiya laughed heartedly and clapped Sasuke on his back. "That's the spirit! Even though I can never forgive Orochimaru and know what has to be done about him, I still cherish the memories I have with him. You should do the same with your brother, it will ease the burden you carry.

A darkness crossed over Sasuke's face. "I don't want to talk about my brother. I know what must be done with him"

"Yet you could choose to not let him take control of your life" Jiraiya looked down at the young boy, an uncharacteristically serious expression on his face. "If you let him control your life as he has up until now it won't matter if you kill him, he will still control your life and in the end he wins. That's not what you want is it?"

Sasuke was left aghast, he did not know how to reply to that, was he playing right into Itachi's hand?

"B-But he told me to nurture my hatred, that was the only way I could ever catch up to him!" Sasuke exploded, he had not meant to say any off that it was private information he did not feel like sharing with anyone.

Jiraiya smirked down at him, it only helped to infuriate him further. "And why should you do as he says?"

Again words betrayed him and he was left starring at Jiraiya with a dumbstruck expression. Not finding anything that could justify the path he had always planned to go down.

Jiraiya took his silence as a good sign and continued onwards. "You were Naruto's teammate so tell me where did he get his strength from? What inspired him to continue onwards even when faced with opponents far out of his league?"

Sasuke gave Jiraiya a deadpan look. "That ridiculous Nindō of his and a literal army of **Kage bunshin** "

Jiraiya let out a boisterous laugh finally returning to his normal carefree self. "Not the answer I was looking for, but yes I guess that helped. Now try again I know you have the answer I am looking for and I want you to say it out loud"

Sasuke took a minute to think before the answer hit him like a ton of bricks. "He wanted to protect those precious to him. That girl in Nami – Haku – taught him that"

Jiraiya nodded sagely. "Correct. What you have to do is something you must do alone, but don't forget that you have comrades that will help you along the way and help shoulder your burden. They are what makes us strong"

Before Sasuke had a chance to respond Jiraiya stood up and turned to leave. Before he left he did leave a few parting words. "It's clear that you genuinely cared for my godson so I feel that I should inform you off something. Understand that you are not allowed to discuss this with anyone other than me, Kakashi or Tsunade. Do you understand?"

Sasuke got up as well standing a few feet behind the man. "H-Hai, I understand"

"There is a chance that Naruto lives. I don't know for sure but before I can prove that he is dead I will continue searching for him. There is a chance my former teammate got his hands on him or – god forbid – someone even more dangerous"

Jiraiya left a speechless Sasuke standing on the training ground. his legs were shaking and tears had started falling down his cheeks. _'Naruto lives… I-I have to get stronger, I have to rescue him!'_

* * *

 **Takigakure**

Naruto stood before the half-dead body of Suika. He would admit that it had been a tougher fight than anticipated but lucky for him Suika specialised in Ninjutsu that he could easily absorb.

However, if not for his power over gravity he would most likely have lost the short taijutsu fight they had. Lucky for him that he could only push away. It was the result of that he was currently looking at.

Suika sat leaning against the tree he had collided with when Naruto had tired of their fight. Blood was running down his face from various cuts and bruises. A black spear was planted in his stomach, keeping him pinned to the tree.

Naruto calmly walked over to him, he was done delaying it was time to finish this fight. He stood before Suika and rested a hand on top of his head, a blue glow appeared in his palm. The man looked up at him with tired eyes, no emotions escaped his face he was too tired to care at this point.

"Suika… I want you to know Pain" and then in one quick motion he pulled his hand back, connected to it was a glowing humanoid looking 'ghost'.

He studied it for a while before sighting. He squeezed his hand and the soul he had dragged out shattered into nothingness. Suika's body that was still leaning against the tree went completely limp. He was dead.

* * *

 **A/N: I used a long time on this chapter didn't I…? Well I'm sorry about that, it was planned to be released before Christmas but with all the holiday stuff and the midterm tests I just could not find that drive to sit down and finish it in-between my studying and Holiday stuff.**

 **This was also the first fight-scene I have ever written; I hope it was semi-good for a first try? Please inbox me and notice me if you found any obvious errors to help improve my writing! It will help me create better and more enjoyable content in the future for you the readers. :^)**

 **Also as a side note: The three Amegakure shinobi that was fighting Haku and Zabuza are taken out of the Waterfall OVA.**

 **Suika is a Takigakure Jōnin that fought team: 8 in a filler arc.**

 **Those with keen eyes should also have noticed that there is now a cover art for this story! Go over to my profile for information and link on where to see the full version. :D**

 **Well that's all I have to say for now. See y'all next time! (Also see the poll on my profile)**


	7. Interlude I

**Interlude I – In attendance: Gakidō!**

* * *

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of it's characters.**

* * *

 _"Peace under an illusion is not true peace. It's only meaningful if the real world manages to accomplish it." - Gaara_

* * *

 **Tetsu no Kuni – Remote location**

* * *

The battle for Takigakure had marked the end off the civil-war in Takigakure. The war had been short, lasting not even a full year, but with the battle lost and the heavy casualties on their end, the rebel shinobi had all but lost their will to keep up the fighting. Not to mention the shinobi sent from Amegakure, who was fighting in a foreign land for an unknown cause, it came as no surprise when they high-tailed back to their homeland after the battle was lost and their commanders were slain.

After the battle Suien himself had finally revealed himself. He must have realised how utterly hopeless his situation was, now that he no longer had an army at his back, nevertheless he managed to rally some few of his routed shinobi and rekindle their spirit to join him in making one last stand.

Naruto could not fault the man, Suien knew what would happen to him in the event that he did not win the war and as proud shinobi and former Jōnin of Takigakure he would rather go out quick fighting than face the consequences of his actions, and by extension a life in prison or death.

Thinking back to it now Naruto would go so far as to say that there was something strangely admirable about Suien's death. The man – despite his situation – would rather die standing on his own two feet, fighting for his believes. There was honour in that.

Not that he cared about honour. He was going to restore peace, not chivalry.

Pulling himself away from the reminiscing Naruto opened his eyes to take in the view of the sun rising on a new day. He took a moment to admire it, combined with the feeling of the cool morning haze it painted a beautiful picture to see the sun rising over the tree line.

In a lazy – yet elegant – movement Naruto jumped down from the tree branch he had been resting on and landed silently on the ground, effectively shaking away the remaining sleepiness in his system. Lately he had found that he did not sleep as much as he used to before, he now preferred to spend what little free time he had reading, acquiring more knowledge about history and the different shinobi villages. And when he allowed himself to rest he always kept one eye open, to make sure they where not vulnerable.

Naruto glanced over towards the smouldering remains of yesterdays bonfire where his two companions had been sleeping. It came as no surprise that both off them had woken upon noticing him leaving his branch. Zabuza was already working on sealing away what little equipment they had used the night before while Haku was doing her morning routine off stretching and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"So _Pein-sama_ what is the plan for today?" Zabuza said the ' _Pein-sama'_ part with an overly dramatized bow. "Continue the training at the same spot as yesterday?"

Naruto scowled at the man. "I told you that you can call me by my name when others are not around. Pein is simply an alias used to keep my identity hidden and it works to represent our organisation" Naruto picked up his water canteen and took a greedy swing of it before focusing his attention back to Zabuza. "And to answer you question, no, we have stayed here for too long, we will move to a new area. I don't want to attract unwanted attention"

Zabuza made grunting sound while nodding his head in agreement. "Now that you mention it I guess it's not a half bad idea… Wouldn't do to get the samurai on our case"

Naruto gave Zabuza a curt nod and reached into his cloak, withdrawing a white porcelain mask, similar to the one used by Konoha's Anbu operatives **[*]**. It was something he had acquired recently to make it easier to keep his identity hidden while travelling, that and it was more practical than the straw hat he had acquired in Amegakure.

"In that case I'll prepare some food before we go. it's not healthy to travel on an empty stomach" Naruto turned around to see Haku smiling up at them as she unpacked the ingredients she needed for the meal.

* * *

 **Kawa no Kuni**

* * *

In a dimly lit cavern in Kawa no Kuni a young man dressed in a maroon long sleeved cloak knelt before a man dressed in a mostly similar uniform with the most notable difference being that his cloak was in a deep black colour and on his head was an orange mask with a spiral pattern focused around his right eye, the only eye opening on the mask.

The masked man took a moment to study the young man before him, enjoying the slight look off curiosity that ghosted over the normally stoic youths face.

Good. It meant there was no question who was the superior.

He rested his chin on his hand and began talking in a slow, deep voice. "Lately there has been something – or rather _someone_ that has piqued my interest"

The young man kneeling before him raised his head and looked up at him, meeting his gaze eye to eyes. "What would you have me do Madara-sama?"

The masked man – Madara shrugged and continued in a lighter, less serious tone. "At first I had planned for you to capture him, however, due to recant developments I have changed my mind"

An uncharacteristic look off curiosity graced the kneeling youths face. "Madara-sama?"

A dangerous red gleam could be seen through the eye hole in Madara's mask and a dark chuckle echoed through the cavern. "The Kyūbi jinchūriki faked his death and fled Konoha in the aftermath of Orochimaru's failed attempt to destroy it. At first I had planned to capitalize on that and capture him now that he is not under the protection of the village or that damned monkey, Sarutobi"

Madara reached into his cloak and withdrew a cylinder shaped scroll. With a lazy flick of his hand he threw it to the boy kneeling before him. The young man looked at him, still a confused look on his face. "Naruto-kun left the village, why?"

Madara waved his hand in a dismissing manner and gestured towards the scroll in his hand. "See for yourself"

He watched intently as the boy read Zetsu's report on the jinchūriki, enjoying how his eyes widened when he came to _the best part_ even letting out another low chuckle. "So you are familiar with the Rinnegan?"

Former shinobi of Konohagakure no Sato, Uchiha Itachi looked up at the masked face of his leader, once more meeting his gaze. "Vaguely" He confirmed, however, the look he received from his leader forced him to elaborate. "I visited the Naka Shrine shortly after I awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan. I could not decipher the whole text, however it was hinted that only those who possess the same visual prowess of the Rikudō Sennin could decipher the whole text"

Madara nodded sagely. "It is true that only a wielder of the Rinnegan can decipher the true message left by the Rikudō Sennin. But that is not the point, no, this is an excellent opportunity one that I cannot allow to slip away"

"So you want me to recruit him" It was a statement, not a question.

"No. If you approach him and ask him to work for me he will turn us down" Madara stood up and walked up to Itachi. "What I want you to do is to extend a helping hand. I want to see the true extent of his potential, push him in the right direction and make him think he is working with us, anything else and he will feel like he is being pressed into a corner – and react accordingly"

Itachi stood up, standing face to face with the legendary shinobi. "So we are manipulating him then"

"You could say that. But for now I want you to help him in his endeavour to gather followers, and learn more about him and his motives. He has already made the most important step to unlocking the true potential of the Rinnegan when he lost his innocence and for the first time gazed into darkness that is this world. I simply want to see what he can do with it"

Again Madara laughed, he sounded almost happy, giddy even. "As his power grow he will come to see more off the darkness in this world and fall further into it, when that happens he will seek me out on his own"

Itachi hesitated for a moment before addressing his leader, he was not sure what to make of this situation his leader was acting way differently than normal and it was putting the normally stoic Uchiha off. "If that is all I will inform Kisame of our new mission"

Itachi turned to leave but was stopped when Madara spoke up from behind him. "Kisame will not be your partner on this mission. Approaching the boy will require a level of finesse that Kisame does not have. Sasori is waiting for you in our base in Kusagakure, he will be your partner for the time being"

"Understood Madara-sama"

* * *

 **Konohagakure no Sato**

* * *

Lately Uchiha Sasuke had been spending a lot of time thinking, thinking about his life, the course it was taking and the path he had intended to go down to achieve his goal.

Before it had been so simple, Train and get the power to kill Itachi – actually kill Itachi – Rebuild his clan, simple right? Unfortunately things had not been so simple ever after his encounter with Jiraiya. Despite his harsh words the man was right, by living a life off solitude, relying only on himself and his own power he was doing exactly what Itachi told him to do. Itachi had in other words been playing him like a fiddle.

That he would not allow.

There was other things that had helped him in realizing this beside the toad sage, and one of the most important things was his now deceased team-mate, Naruto… The person he had always believed to be good for nothing, a weakling that only goofed around.

He had been proven wrong.

The one he had always considered weak ended up surpassing him, saving his and Sakura's life not only against Gaara but once more after that when he was carrying their unconscious bodies back to the village, he sacrificed his own life for them to get them back to safety.

Thinking about his friend and team-mate brought a faint smile to his face. _'Naruto… I know how the village shunned and ignored you, yet despite that you have always managed to push_ _through_ _and follow your dream of one day becoming Hokage, that was a strength I never had. But now… Now that you are gone I_ _realize_ _that_ _you were the one walking in front off me this whole time because you had_ _the_ _strength I did not_ _have_ _, the guts to never give up!'_

A genuine smile graced Sasuke's face as he broke free from his thoughts, it had taken many sleepless nights and countless hours of contemplating but in the end he came to see that the path he had intended to walk down would only bring more pain to everyone involved, besides… It would be an insult to Naruto's sacrifice!

With the smile still on his face Sasuke fixed his gaze on the kunai-shaped rock standing before him, the memorial stone, a monument honouring all those whom gave their life in service to Konoha. He quickly found Naruto's name at the bottom of the rock, right beneath that of their former academy sensei, Umino Iruka.

He knelt before the monument and placed the items he had brought with him at it's foot. A pair of green googles and bouquet of orange flowers.

"Naruto… I know you are still out there so your name should not really be here, but they would not listen when I tried to tell them that, guess you'll have to kick their asses for even assuming something like that when you come back, huh?"

Sasuke drew a shaking breath, he might not believe that Naruto was dead, but it was hard not having the idiot – no, his friend – around, especially when he did not know where he was or what happened to him.

"Heh, guess you'd give me some smart-ass remark about being a cry-baby just about now, eh? It doesn't matter, I just wanted to tell you to stay safe, don't try anything foolish! We'll have you back home in no time… We all miss you Naruto, just please… stay safe until we get to you, okay?"

Standing back up Sasuke bowed respectfully before the memorial stone, he was just about to set his course to where he was actually _supposed_ to be when he heard someone call out his name a short distance behind him.

"Sasuke-kun! I finally found you, we're gonna be late you know!"

With an uncharacteristic sheepish look on his face Sasuke turned around to greet his team-mate. "I'm sorry Sakura, I must have lost track of time"

"Just don't make it a habit, all right. We already have Kakashi-sensei showing up late half the time, I don't want you doing that as well" Sakura quipped with a playfully chastising tone.

Sasuke let out an amused snort at the remark, his Sensei's notorious tardiness was the one thing he did not want him to teach him. "If that happens you have my permission to beat me up, I even encourage you to do so if that should happen. Now let's go, if we delay any more Kiba will never let it go"

* * *

In one of the more secluded parts of Konoha a group of four shady-looking fellows where arguing in hushed whispers. The three male's where currently cowering slightly under the fierce gaze from a female redhead.

"You gotta be fucking kidding me…" Tayuya bit out through clenched teeth, barely keeping her already short temper in check. "You shitheads honestly thought I'd agree to this shit plan?"

"You know a lady really shouldn't be swearing like that, Tayuya" Jirōbō, the largest and by far most imposing member of the sound four shifted uncomfortably under the murderous gaze she fixed on him.

Tayuya, now visibly shaking with anger took a threatening step towards him, still keeping the murderous gaze on him alone. "Shut. The. Fuck. Up!" For every word she gave him a hard poke in the chest with her index finger.

"Enough of this Tayuya, follow the plan and we'll be done with the mission and home by this time tomorrow" Sakon, the temporary leader of the sound four spoke up with a slightly annoyed look on his face.

A long pause followed where Tayuya glared at all her team-mates in turn. Eventually she realized how terribly outnumbered she was and let loose an exasperated groan. "Fine… But you better tell Orochimaru-sama that I more or less did this mission solo!"

Sasuke and Sakura arrived at Yakiniku Q **[*]** to find that Asuma, Kurenai and Guy's team's had already arrived together with their own sensei, and the charcoal braziers that all the tables where equipped with was hot at work with preparing their food.

"Shinobi rule: A shinobi must be punctual and on time" Kakashi's lazy voice drawled from his seat next to Yūhi Kurenai, he did not even bother looking up from his book.

Sasuke and Sakura both starred at their Sensei with identically deadpan expressions, the other Jōnin in the room that was familiar with Kakashi's blatant disregard to showing up on time chuckled at the irony.

"You sure you have the right to lecture someone on punctuality, Kakashi-san?" Kurenai had an amused expression on her face. She had known Kakashi for a long time and this must have been the first time since _that_ mission he lectured someone on the shinobi rules..

Kakashi tore himself away from his book for long enough to give Kurenai his trademark eye-smile. There was not really much he could say to defend himself against that.

"So!" The booming voice of one Might Guy ended the awkward pause that had settled. "Sasuke-kun, Sakura-chan please join us! It is long overdue that all of us came together to bask in our shared youth!"

Rock Lee shot to his feet and threw his arms in the air to celebrate his Sensei's 'youthful' words. "Yosh! Sakura-chan, Sasuke-kun, Guy-Sensei is right! Please come and join us!"

From this point Sasuke had to admit that he did have a good time eating with his comrades. He had not talked to the members of team-Guy during the Chūnin-exams, well except for his little run-inn with Lee before the first test and a few nasty looks between him and Neji.

Now that he got to talk to them thought he had to admit that he quite liked them. Yes Guy and Lee both shared some odd mannerisms, but they were refreshingly sincere people and he would admit he enjoyed talking to them. Same could be said for Tenten and Neji, but it did not feel fair to compare them to their team-mates. Tenten was easy enough to have a conversation with, she was also more interested in discussing shinobi related topics than Sakura and Ino had ever been, which for someone like Sasuke was a great relief.

However, Neji had been the most interesting member of team-Guy. During the Chūnin-exams he had made up an opinion on him, but now that he was actually talking to him, he was nothing like had imagined. When he had gotten the impression that Neji had an even bigger superiority complex than he himself used to have he couldn't have been more wrong.

Neji was polite and reserved. When he spoke he did so without wasting any words, and he did not try to show himself and the Hyūga as superior to Sasuke and his clan, nor did he talk down on him as he had semi-expected him to do.

As they talked Sasuke learned that some off the changes in Neji's personality was almost entierly Naruto's credit. Neji told him about what had happened between him and Naruto during their fight and also what his uncle Hiashi had said to him after the fight.

When he talked about his fight with Naruto he spoke with admiration for the person that made him see the faults in his logic, but also sadness over the loss of someone he admired. **[*]**

He was not the only one suffering.

It was at this moment that Sasuke realized that he was not the only one that had lost someone during the invasion. Everyone in this room grew up with Naruto. With this realization he started noticing the minor differences in behaviour in the people he had gone to school with for so many years. Kiba – while still boisterous – was more subdued than Sasuke remembered seeing him before. Shino and Shikamaru never really made an effort to get attention, but he noticed that both boys had an aura of seriousness about them that he could not remember seeing before, especially Shikamaru.

He could not remember hearing Hinata talk much before, but she was pleasant and happy to just be there when something happened. Now she did not say a word, she just sat there and starred at the now cold food on her plate, quietly accepting Kurenai's hand that was gently resting on her shoulder.

The other's he could not really tell with, perhaps Ino and Chōji was more reserved that they used to be? He cold not say, he never knew them well enough to say. However, he had noticed that Sakura was less prone to blush and flirt with him whenever he showed her any attention that was not relevant for a mission. He also noticed that she had started to give it her all the last couple team exercises they had had since the invasion.

Based on these new observations Sasuke made a decision to try and be more open and supportive off his piers. He was not the only one suffering from the loss of a friend, and he knew better than most the pain of loosing someone, he did not want them to go through it alone like he did.

Besides… It is what Naruto would have done, and what he would have wanted him to do.

From there one out the night went quickly and when the time finally came for the people to go home Sasuke made the decision to hold one final toast.

He cleared his throat and raised his cup. "Most of you probably doesn't know me as a nice guy, to be honest I purposely pushed people away..."

All eyes were on him now. Most where looking at him with curiosity but some – the Jōnin in the room – eyed him with softer looks. "But after what happened during the Chūnin-exams I realised the errors in my logic. There was someone that managed to snake his way past the barriers I constantly put up around myself and befriend me"

At this point he had to pause and draw a long breath to avoid revealing the emotions that was threatening to show. "Naruto is not here any more. But that does not mean that his spirit can not live on through us! I guess… I guess what I'm trying to say is that we are all suffering from this and I want to be there for all of you! I want to get to know you, and be your friend!

' _just like you did for me… Naruto'_ With a genuine smile Sasuke raised his cup and called out the finish to his toast.

"To Naruto!"

" **Naruto!"**

As the cheering from Guy and Lee after Sasuke's excellent display of 'youth' started to die down Sasuke felt a hand rest on his shoulder. He looked up and saw Kakashi standing behind him with an approving smile, Kakashi gave his shoulder a comforting squeeze before.

After they had all departed from Yakiniku Q that night Sasuke had every intention of going straight home, however, along the way he heard the most beautiful melody being played in the distance. It was sad yet full of joy, he found himself completely infatuated with it.

He did not when he changed course and started following the sound of the music rather than the road that led to his home, but he did not care, all that mattered to him right now was to find the source of the beautiful tune that was being played.

After walking for what felt like an eternity he finally found what he was looking for. In one of the more secluded parts of Konoha he found a girl sitting one of the benches there playing her flute. She was not old, probably only a couple years older than him with stunningly beautiful red hair that fell past her shoulder.

Without thinking he approached her and sat down beside her on the bench. She did not react to his presence, she just continued to play that same beautiful melody for him.

After a while the song came to an end. The girl tilted her head and looked at him with mild curiosity. "I did not think there would be anyone out here this late, who are you?"

It took a moment before Sasuke realized she was speaking to him. He had been to busy staring at her, for some odd reason he found the girl sitting next to him to be the most beautiful thing in the world right now. "U-Uchiha Sasuke… What was that song?"

The girl laughed. A beautiful melodic laugh, Sasuke wanted to know why he was feeling like this for someone he had literally just seen a few minutes ago, but it seemed so unimportant right now, all that mattered was her and the song she played.

"It's a lullaby, my mother used to play it for me" Her right hand reached out and rested softly atop off his. When he looked at her he could see that she had fully turned to face him now, giving him a better look at her face. She had brown eyes with long eyelashes, and her skin was fair skin, she was absolutely beautiful. "Would you like for me to play you an other song?"

Sasuke was not even paying attention to what she was saying, he just nodded dumbly to whatever words came out of her mouth. The girl let out a sweet giggle and raised the flute up to her lips, another melody started playing, unfortunately he did not get to hear much of this one before the world around him went dark.

Tayuya continued to play until she felt Sasuke's head rest on her shoulders, when she looked down she was pleased to see that he was entirely unconscious.

She stood up, letting Sasuke's slumbering form collapse – not so gently – on the bench. Three shadows could be seen moving in the trees inn front of her before the remaining members of the sound four materialised before her.

"That's my part out of the way" She looked at the tallest boy with an annoyed frown. "You can carry him, fatso"

* * *

 **Hi no Kuni**

* * *

A blazing hot fireball was roaring through the woods, heading straight towards Naruto and his companions. Haku and Zabuza both reacted quickly and jumped out off the way, Naruto did not.

Truth be told he hardly even registered the danger that was rapidly closing on him. If you could see past the porcelain mask hiding his face you would see that it was marred by a look of utter shock and terror.

Memories of his last day as a shinobi of Konohagakure no Sato raged through Naruto's mind, the memory of the fireball that he had thought would end his life many months ago, the memory of his teacher and friend smiling at him moments before he was consumed in the fire meat for him.

" **Naruto!"** The angry snarl from his tenant made Naruto snap back to attention, the shocked expression morphed into one of anger for allowing himself to be caught of guard like this. Without thinking he activated a protective barrier to form around him and absorb the incoming jutsu.

The fire collided against his barrier, and for a short moment the fire danced around him, completely absorbing him as they tried to find a way past his barrier, it did, however, not take long before the jutsu had been completely absorbed.

Zabuza and Haku reappeared at his side as the fire on the ground around him died out, both had their weapons drawn and ready.

"Reveal yourself" Naruto starred impassively in the direction the attack came from. He could barley make out the chakra from two individuals in the distance, they were strong, probably stronger than Haku and Zabuza.

Their chakra signatures disappeared from the area momentarily before they reappeared in front of them in a soundless **Shunshin (Body flicker technique)** not even a second later.

There was – as he observed – two of them, both wore identical maroon coloured robes, quite similar to the robes Naruto and his companions used. With a quick observation of them the one that caught Naruto's immediate attention was the hunched over _creature_ sitting – or was he standing? – behind the apparent leader, he wore a cloth that covered the lower part of his face and his skin had a rather unhealthy colour.

When Naruto focused his attention on the young man standing inn front of him he he got the feeling that he knew him from somewhere, there was something strangely familiar about him. His eyes had a familiar onyx colour under which were long, pronounced tear-troughs, his face was framed by two bangs of – also familiar – jet-black hair. Furthermore, he was wearing a Konoha Hitai-ate.

Then it occurred to him who this had to be, there was only one other living person he could imagine to have such a strong resemblance to his former team-mate. "You are Uchiha Itachi… What do you want from me?"

The hunched man behind Itachi grunted in approval to his observation, he had a deep gravelly voice. "His more observant than he is credited for"

"Yes, Naruto-kun has grown quite much since I last saw him, and if Zetsu is correct, it's a very recant development" Itachi's tone held a hint of amusement as he studied the teen standing in front of him. He certainly had changed since the last time they met.

"You did not answer my question" Naruto knew that Itachi was a dangerous man, probably the most dangerous he could imagine running into. "I do not have time to play games with you, say what you came to say or leave. That is the only warning you will get"

To emphasise his point he released his Killing intent, hoping that the power of his Kyūbi-amplified chakra would make them reconsider picking a fight with them. Unfortunately it did not have the effect he was hoping for, the only one that seemed to be slightly put on edge by the Killing intent was Haku, mainly due to the fact that she was less experienced than the three men.

The man behind Itachi chuckled darkly. "My what malicious chakra, you must have learned to control some of the Kyūbi's chakra"

Noticing that the three Akatsuki members shifted slightly and was put even more on edge after the mention of the Kyūbi Itachi decided that it had been enough fun for now, it was time to calm the situation before a fight broke loose.

"I'm sorry Naruto-kun, we are not here to fight you. You were correct in your earlier assessment, I am Uchiha Itachi and this" He gestured to his partner. "Is my partner, Akasuna no Sasori (Sasori of the Red Sand)"

This got a reaction from Haku who remembered reading his entry in Zabuza's bingo book a few years ago. "Akasuna no Sasori… You don't look anything like your picture in the bingo book, how do we know it's really you?"

"I would hope so, you being a long-time companion of Momochi Zabuza should now how troublesome being an international criminal can be. I, however, don't have that problem because no one knows my identity unless they have my approval. So to answer your question: you don't know whether I am Sasori or not, and I would like to keep it that way for now" His tone held a sense of pride when he explained his own 'genius'

Even if he could not see his face Itachi could figuratively feel the impatiens Naruto was giving off, it was time to reveal their purpose. "Naruto-kun, Sasori and I are not here on behalf of ourselves, we are here representing our leader. He has taken an interest in you after your escapades in Takigakure..."

Naruto narrowed his eyes behind his mask, he was not sure where this was going, but he did not appreciate being called reckless by the man who murdered his own clan to 'test the limits of his power'

While he could not see his face Itachi could easily tell Naruto was giving him a dirty look.. "Don't give me that look, yes your involvement in Takigakure proved successful, but it was hardly wise to so recklessly and openly display your power when you were not yet strong enough to properly defend yourself from high ranking opponents… Luckily for you only we learned about the origin of that power"

Naruto's eyes widened slightly, they knew of his power? The Rinnegan? Perhaps caution was the best approach to this situation after all. "Clearly your leader knows a lot about me, whatever you have to say I will listen"

Itachi smiled, an earnest smile it was hard to believe that this man was capable of what he had done. "As I said our leader has taken an interest in you, he wants to see your true potential, test how far you are willing and capable of going…" He turned towards Sasori and made a small gesture with his hand. "Sasori the scrolls if you please"

A 'poof' and a small cloud of white smoke appeared in Sasori's left hand, the next moment he was holding five scrolls. He threw them over to Zabuza before he started to explain their content. "As Itachi already said our leader wants to know how much potential you have. But he would also like to help you reach some off that potential. These scrolls contain information about each member of the group know as 'the sound four' including one on their former leader, Kaguya Kimimaro"

He took a small pause to allow Zabuza to skim through the scrolls before continuing his explanation. "They are all promising shinobi that I believe could be persuaded to your cause, with Kimimaro being the exception, he is far to devoted to that snake Orochimaru"

Zabuza glanced at the scrolls with a sceptical look, he was not sure these were good enough.. "They have promise, but the only one that truly stands out is Kimimaro, which is ironically the one that would most likely not join us"

"It was not our leaders intention that you would recruit all of them, he said the Kaguya would be the best pick the information on the others was included to give you information on their abilities in the event that you would have to fight them. However, I urge you to consider recruiting the girl, Tayuya, she has shown exceptional potential with her genjutsu and judging by what I have seen none of you specialise in the art, it could prove useful"

What Itachi said made sense, neither of them specialised in genjutsu and it was not to shove under a rock that it would be beneficial to have an ally that did. However, he was curious as to what he was supposed to do with this Kimimaro.

"It would certainly be beneficial to have someone specialised in genjutsu as an ally, however, I don't understand what your leader intends for me to do with a devout follower of Orochimaru that is stated in your report to be terminally ill..."

Itachi shrugged. "To be honest our leader left that part out, when I asked him the same question he told me that 'He will know what to do with him, if he can't convince the Kaguya to join him, he will know that with the Rinnegan even a dead man can serve a purpose'. I expected you to know what to do with him"

It took him a moment but soon realization struck him, it was so obvious what their leader meant, and with the Kaguya's bloodline to top it off, it would make a fearsome tool…

"Yes, I understand now"

Itachi smiled. "Good. Well, Naruto-kun it has been a pleasure seeing you but I'm afraid we – or rather you – are running short on time" When he saw the questioning looks on Haku and Zabuza he continued to elaborate on the cryptic message. "The sound four is on a mission to bring my foolsih little brother to Orochimaru, they will travel to Otogakure via The valley of the end, you should hurry if you want to capitalize on this opportunity"

Naruto nodded, they were close to the border, it should be no problem to catch them in a trap. "Before we depart I want to ask you something"

Itachi raised a delicate eyebrow in curiosity. "And what would that be?"

"your leader knows much about my Rinnegan, who exactly is he?"

"Oh I'm afraid we can't tell you that Naruto-kun, before you prove yourself to him he will not reveal anything about himself, when you do, however, we will contact you again. He very much want you to reach your potential, he seems to think you have much in common!"

"How he knows so much about your eyes I cannot tell, prove yourself to him and maybe he will share it with you"

Itachi gave a curt nod to Naruto before he turned and walked away, however, his partner did not. "There is one last thing before you go. My spy in Otogakure has arranged for the Kaguya to travel as back-up for the sound four, despite his illness. If you move quickly you can single him out and make this ordeal less hazardous… Best of luck"

* * *

 **Close to the valley at the end**

* * *

Tayuya cursed wildly as they made their way through the forest, towards the border to Otogakure. Konoha had found out about Sasuke being abducted faster than they had expected and sent out a team of genin – fucking genin! - to hunt after them, worst part was that they had managed to single them out, it was only her, Sakon and Ukon left now. She had no doubt the others would be fine, but still it was a stain on her pride that they had been pushed so far by a team of green as grass genin!

"Fuck! These leaf-hugger trash is persistent as fucking shit!"

Sakon cursed under his breath. For once he found himself agreeing with her, the genin were annoyingly persistent. He came to a halt on a broad tree-branch, Tayuya landing beside him with a mix of curiosity and anger at his sudden halt.

"The hell are you doing?" Her answer was the casket containing Orochimaru's new vessel being – not so gently – thrown at her.

"I want to play a little with the trash, how about you brother?" A chuckle emitted from the back of his head, and out of his body a second body emerged, it was almost completely identical to himself.

"It's been a long time since last we had the opportunity to play with Konoha trash, let's make this fun! Tayuya go ahead and complete the mission"

Before she could reply the boy with a pineapple on his head and the other boy with that annoying mongrel landed close to them and went into fighting stances. The annoying one with the dog decided to to open his mouth.. "Oi! Give him back!"

Without even bothering to throw a few offensive remarks to the Konoha shinobi she took of with Orochimaru's new toy, they had wasted too much time on the Konoha genin as it was and if there was one thing she liked even less than Orochimaru it was a displeased Orochimaru.

* * *

"He is close, there is an open field not far from here, we will confront him there" Haku and Zabuza nodded and followed after him.

They came to a halt on a large open field, not long after they landed a boy around Haku's age landed before them. He looked at them with the same level of disgust as a normal person would when faced with a small army of cockroaches.

"Why are you following me, _trash_ " He held himself with pride and superiority and judging by the way he shifted his feet into a battle-ready stance he was more than likely planning on attacking them regardless of what he answered.

Naturally Naruto ignored the boy's obviously threatening demeanour. "Kaguya Kimimaro you have offered your life and unique bloodline serving a man that would offer you nothing but death in return. I wish to offer you a chance at a better life, a chance become bigger than yourself, denounce your former master and serve me, help me on my path to restore peace and justice to this world"

Naruto was not surprised when Kimimaro's expression morphed into one of rage. A sword made from his own bone spurted out from his arm, he grabbed the blade and pulled it out. He pointed it threateningly at Naruto. "Orochimaru-sama saved my life, he raised me, he trained me, and he gave me purpose! I would never betray him for trash like you!"

Kimimaro crouched down, preparing to jump at them. Unfortunately for him Naruto was well prepared for this and acted faster than him. He raised his hand and pointed it towards Kimimaro, much like he pointed his own sword at him. " **Banshō Ten'in! (Universal pull)** "

For the first time in a long time complete and utter shock was evident on Kimimaro's face. Before he could even think he was lifted from the ground and pulled towards his opponent at high speed, he could not even control his body.

When Kimimaro came close enough Naruto's hand shot out, using Kimimaro's momentum against him his hand slammed into the boys exposed throat and with his guidance it sent him crashing into the ground, tearing it up and creating a small crater where Kimimaro's body impacted with the ground.

Before the boy had time to recover Naruto flipped him over to lay on his stomach, in the same movement he materialised a black-rod from his left hand and rammed it through his left shoulder, pinning him to the ground, and effectively putting the teen in his mercy.

Kimimaro cursed under his breath, how could this simple piece of trash catch him off guard like this? This was not how it was supposed to end… He was supposed to use the last strength he had in his body to bring the new vessel to Orochimaru, one final sacrifice for his master's dream.

Desperately he tried to move, the stab wound to his shoulder was not fatal and he had endured worse pain before, he could still fight! However, when he tried to move his body tensed and he lost control, the image of a pair off disembodied purple eyes with a ripple pattern that spread over the eyeball appeared looking down on him.

He was completely helpless.

Naruto stood looming over the teen, in his hand another one of his chakra receivers formed, just in case. "There is no point in resisting, this close I have no trouble controlling you"

Zabuza whistled quietly at this new display of power. "That's a pretty fucking useful ability, you only need to nail 'em once… Impressive"

Haku nodded a small smile spreading on her face. "Indeed it is a useful power to have"

Naruto turned towards his companions, disregarding Kimimaro for a short moment. "There are other people close by, go search for this Tayuya. Kill the other member's of the sound four if you encounter them, Orochimaru owes me a great deal of suffering, I want to start collecting on that debt by killing his bodyguards"

After Haku and Zabuza had disappeared into the woods to do his bidding he turned his attention back to Kimimaro. He had stopped struggling against the restraint all he could do now was glare at Naruto and wait and see what would be done with him.

* * *

Haku stared down at the chubby boy doing his best to fight off the clearly stronger and more experienced Otogakure shinobi – Jirōbō if she was not mistaken – to protect his friends.

After noticing how the members of the sound four had so conviniently decided to slit up in order to fight the Konoha shinobi Zabuza had decided it was best if they used this oportuity that had been given them and split up to take them out one by one. Haku had been sent to take out the one furthest away.

A look of empathy marred her face, she knew he would more than likely loose and subsequently die unless she intervened in the fight. She wanted to. His death was unnecessary and the need to help people was in her nature.

But would Naruto-kun approve?

She was uncertain. She knew that he held great resentment towards the shinobi nations in general, but even more so to his former home. However, he also did not want to make more enemies than necessary before they where powerful enough to confront them openly.

If she saved this boy it would make them look less like a threat wouldn't it? At least to Konoha..

There was no reason really to try and debate whether or not to leave the boy to his fate. She simply did not have it in her to watch on as innocent people died for nothing. She did was not sure if she liked that part of her self, before she had wanted to kill her heart and become a proper shinobi worthy of being Zabuza's weapon. But now Zabuza had admitted that her 'gentle nature' as he called it was not a weakness, even Naruto had agreed to that.

So with that in mind she prepared three senbon needles in her hand.

It all went off without a hitch. The needle penetrated the soft skin in the large teens neck putting him in a state of near death. In a burst of speed she shot out from the tree she had been hiding in and landed quietly before the downed boy, her back facing the frightened konoha shinobi.

She withdrew a kunai from her pouch and knelt down next to the enemy shinobi, she really hated this part, but this way it was at least painless for him. She rested the kunai on his throat and closed her eyes.

With one quick movement she had dragged over his throat, cutting deep. A disgusted grimace made it's way onto her face as she felt the hot liquid spray onto her face. Without opening her eyes she wiped it away with the hem of her coat.

She was just about to continue onwards to her Zabuza should be when she her movement coming from behind. She turned around to see the Konoha shinobi that she saved getting back on his feet looking at her with uncertain eyes, obviously he was not sure whether or not she was his enemy.

"W-Who are you? D-did Hokage-sama send you?" There was some slight stammering when he tried to speak. Haku couldn't blame the boy for that, he was obviously wounded and probably scared as well, not that she could really blame him for that.

Haku turned towards the frightened boy with a kind smile. He was clutching his right side and holding onto the three – that he had previously been not so carefully thrown into – in order to keep his balance.

"I am neither your friend nor your enemy. That is all you need to know" And with those parting words she cast disappeared back into the forest leaving behind a now severely injured and madly blushing Chōji.

* * *

Zabuza looked down on the scene playing out beneath him with mild interest. The Hyūga knew he was there he had no doubt, it did not really matter thought, judging by the situation he had more than enough with his enemy to pay him any heed.

Not that he could do something about it…

It was, however, this sound four member – Kidōmaru was it? - that had his attention. He looked absolutely grotesque, his skin was red – not sort off red, Uzumaki-hair red – and his face had taken the shape that held more of a resemblance to an unholy combination of demon and spider than any human, he even had what appeared to be a third eye on his forehead!

Regardless of his slightly repulsing looks he was still doing a good job considering his opponent was a member of the prestigious Hyūga clan. He was doing a good job at keeping out of range from their crippling taijutsu while showering him with golden arrows that he produced from his own body and spewed out of his mouth by the looks of it.. Much like the spider he looked like.

Still thought, judging by how the fight was going Zabuza thought it was safe to conclude that this boy had somehow managed to find the Byakugan's blind-spot. Every so often one of his attacks would hit it's mark. The Hyūga boy was doing an excellent job of redirecting those attacks he could not doge to at least hit a non-lethal spot, but more and more attacks slipped past his defence and the Hyūga boy grew more and more fatigued. It should only be a matter of time now.

Or so he thought.

The first arrow that had been fired went straight through his shoulder, having caught him in his blind-spot he had no means of escaping it. The golden weapons proved to be more than just a fancy looking set of bow and arrow, when the arrow hit home it travelled straight through his shoulder and impacted with the ground with enough force to leave a small crater.

At this point Zabuza had seen enough. Perhaps he should have intervened soon? Yeah, probably, if not everything he could have shielded the boy from that arrow. He where under no obligations to save the Hyūga but he would consider it his reward to him for the potential he showed, for a genin at least.

When the second arrow was fired he acted.

A loud clang resonated in the clearing, sparks flew from where Zabuza's kunai impacted with the arrow mid-air knocking it of course. It still did not miss it's target completely, however, instead of hitting the Hyūga dead-on it merely left a deep cut in his shoulder.

Kidōmaru barley had time to be surprised by the sudden turn of events. He heard the sound of something approaching fast and barely had time to doge the kunai that would have embedded themselves in his head had he not acted. He allowed his body to fall backwards from the branch, now he was hanging there like a spider hanging from it's thread, desperately looking for the predator that was hunting him.

Zabuza wasted little time and was already moving to deal the finishing blow the moment he threw the kunai. He gripped Kubikiribōchō with both hands he leapt from his branch towards his opponent. He would not have time to doge his attack this time, he could see his eyes widening in surprise as he appeared before him with speed the teen could not compete with, he reared the sword back before swinging it with both his hands.

Kubikiribōchō was not one of the legendary swords wielded by a member of the seven ninja swordsmen of the mist for nothing. It had managed to cut through not only the teen himself but also the Armour of sticky gold that he had coated himself in, nearly decapitating him.

He landed on one of the trees on the opposite side, behind him the sound of Kidōmaru desperately heaving for air could be heard, despite his lounges being flooded with blood. A few seconds later and his body went limp before the thread that had previously kept him hanging from the tree gave up without a source of chakra to support it.

Zabuza chuckled lowly as he landed back on on the ground, he did enjoy practising his trade! Back on the ground he was to his surprise greeted by a not so uncontentious as he had expected Hyūga. His chuckle developed into a laughter when he saw that boy still had some fight left in his eyes.

"Your good I'll give you that" The Hyūga glared at him, fulling the amusement Zabuza found in the situation. "However, this – that you just saw – is how it's supposed to be done. Quick and clean, he did not even get the time to realize he was going to die before it happened"

"I remember you, you were in Takigakure!" On second thought Zabuza knew there was something familiar about this boy, now he knew why. "Tell me your name!"

Zabuza who was by now walking away from the scene tilted his head slightly to stare at the Hyūga. His eyes narrowed ever so slightly at the commanding tone the boy used and to his amusement the boy seemed to shrink ever so slightly under his gaze.

"Watch you tone, wouldn't want anything bad to happen to you right after I so valiantly saved your life would we?" After his not so subtle threat he rolled his eyes and shrugged his shoulder before continuing to where Haku would – hopefully – be waiting for him. As he stalked of he muttered something about _'Ungrateful brat'_ and _'Who am I? Ha! I'm the Kirigakure no kijin, my reputation precedes me'_

* * *

"Zabuza-san!" When he returned to the location they had agreed to regroup he was met by a smiling Haku, however, he did notice that she seemed rather queasy. Good, that means she actually went through with their mission. "Everything went well I presume?"

Zabuza waived her of. "What did you expect.. By the looks of you I assume the same for you" It was more of a statement than a question really. Zabuza always could read her like an open book. "This brat I saved had the nerve to ask me who I was! Me! The demon of the hidden mist! Any shinobi from Kiri to Suna knows and fears my name"

A fond smile played on Haku's lips as they made to chase after the redhead that was now travelling alone away from the last fight _'At least his pride is still strong as ever.. I guess it's true that some things never change'_ they had considered jumping in to end the fight before following in pursuit of Tayuya, but their job was made easier by the surprise arrival of three shinobi from Sunagakure making their job easier as they now only had the redhead to focus on.

* * *

Naruto starred at the last Kaguya with a bored expression that only seemed to further infuriate the already beaten Kaguya. He knelt down next to him to come closer to eye level with him, he would offer him one last chance to join him even thought he was fairly certain his answer would be the same.

"I will offer you a second chance to join me. You have seen but a small glimpse off the power I wield, did it make you change your mind?"

Kimimaro's glare only intensified when his enemy addressed him with that same bored tone, aside from the hint of boredom it was completely void of any emotions. It felt as though he was being mocked and it infuriated him to no end! His opponent had not even taken him seriously and now he was talking down on him as if he was just another weak pawn that would collapse to his knees and worship him, he would not, no he would die here, the question was if he would die alone or take this _trash_ with him.

Naruto got his answer in the shape of a razor-sharp blade of bone shooting out from Kimimaro's back, aimed directly between his eyes. It caught him slightly by surprise, it took a significant amount of willpower and devotion to his master to break his control over him if only for half a second.

Unfortunately for Kimimaro, Naruto was fast. He managed to move fast enough for the blade to shoot harmlessly past him. Naruto looked down at the teen, it was a pity, he had so much potential to grow with his own power if he had worked for him.

"So that is your answer, I see…" Behind Naruto a purple rift opened in the ground and from it the king of hell rose up.

Kimimaro starred at the bizarre _thing_ for only a short moment before he closed his eyes and resigned himself to his faith. "It is unfortunate that it had to end like this for you, but you should know that even in death your body will serve a higher purpose in aiding me. Your flesh will help me bring about peace and justice in the shinobi world"

Naruto planted his hand on top of Kimimaro's head. The effect was immediate, his eyes opened and then rolled back, from his mouth a stream of drool poured out. With one hard yank he retracted his hand, connected to it was Kimimaro's soul and with it all wisdom and information he had acquired throughout his life.

With that done Naruto pulled the Black-rod he had used to pin Kimimaro out of his now dead body. He stood back and watched as the king of hell opened his mouth, out of it a long and slimy tongue appeared and grabbed the corpse before pulling it back into it's mouth.

For a good while the king of hell did what could only be described as chewing and when it finally stopped Naruto was hit by a whole new sensation. At first he felt weak, he had expected that, he did after all transfer some of his power into another body.

The most shocking realization though was that he was now controlling a second body. There was no way to describe this sensation, but it felt oddly natural if not a little awkward. He commanded the king of hell to open it's mouth, he wanted to see the results for himself.

When the mouth opened it was awkward at first, he had some trouble adjusting this 'new' set of eyes to the sun. After they got accustomed to the sunlight he tried to make the new body walk to him, it went better than he had feared.

When the body came walking out he finally got a good look at his handy work. Kimimaro's hair was now the same bright yellow colour as his own and his face and torso had chakra-recievers embedded several places to allow him to control it.

It was perfect.

He glanced over his shoulder to see Zabuza and Haku standing there with a terrified Tayuya as hostage. Everything had gone according to plan. With this kind of service he might even consider a cooperation with Itachi's mysterious leader.

Zabuza walked up beside him and admired the body. Wide eyed he starred at it for a good minute before breaking the silence. "He has the same eyes as you… Pein-sama, what is this?"

Both of Naruto's bodies turned to look at Zabuza. "It is me, or rather a puppet. I can channel a fraction of my power into this body and control it like I would my own body. I share my vision with it and I move with it. In other words it's nothing more than an empty shell, it was no will of it's own it's only… me"

"Meeting you… Well let's just say I've seen some bizarre fucked up shit in my life but this… I have never even seen anything close to this" He let out a booming laugh and slapped Naruto's shoulder in a friendly manner. "I'm not a very pious person, but this… This could only be the power of a god!"

Haku too stared in a mix of shock and awe at the body of Kimimaro. "You said you channel a fraction of your power into that body, what does that mean?"

"I gave it my ability to absorb chakra, that is all. The eyes you see are only a reflection of my own, they are not real"

"Fucking hell… You gonna do that to me as well?" Finally Naruto turned his attention to the final piece of business for the day, Tayuya.

"That depends on you. I will offer you a place at my side, I will offer you a chance to become more than you are, to be my ally and aid me in restoring peace and justice to the shinobi world. But most importantly I will offer you what Orochimaru could never give you: Freedom"

Tayuya starred at Naruto for a moment with something akin to admiration hidden well behind the fear and over-all emotional turmoil her mind was going through.

On one hand this guy killed Kimimaro, he was her superior, on the other she always hated that ass-hole. He talked about peace, despite herself she was not opposed to peace, war was the reason she had ended up with Orochimaru in the first place and she would never wish that same fate on anyone else. But more importantly he offered freedom, that was something she could not even remember having it had been so very long since last she could make her own decisions without the fear of being cast aside for it.

"I'll join you, no doubt there… But what are you? No, fuck! I mean who are you" She desperately hoped she had not insulted him too much, he might offer her more than Orochimaru ever did, but she had no doubt in her mind he would kill her without a second thought if she overstepped her boundaries.

Too her surprise a short laugh escaped from underneath his mask. It held little humour and even less emotion, but he was still laughing, that was good right?

"It is quite al right, I will not kill for asking a reasonable question, not after what you saw me do… You can address me as 'Pein-sama' that is all you need to know about me. As for **what** I am… I am the man that is going to become the god of this world, the one that is going to restore it to what the Rikudō Sennin wanted and with it, peace"

There was less fear in her eyes now. This guy not only freed her from Orochimaru but he offered her a place his side, to help him do something no other shiobi before them had ever done, well except for that Rikudō Sennin guy but not like she knew who that fucker was.

"Before we do anything I will have to remove that curse-seal, and wash Orochimaru's influence out of your body"

A small smile crept onto Tayuya's face despite the fucked up situation. _'Well well… This day just keeps getting better and better, wish I could see the snake bastards face, not only did he loose his chance at getting the Uchiha but he also lost his bodyguards,_ _all in one day_ _'_

She felt absolutely no pity for the hell Kabuto would have endure for this failure.

* * *

 **End – Interlude I**

 **[*] 1 – Same mask as Menma is using in Road to ninja: Naruto the Movie.**

 **[*] 2 – Actually a restaurant in Konoha. The one where you often see Asuma and his team eating.**

 **[*] 3 – Admired his willpower and strength to defy his 'fate' that is. Don't know if it's right to say that, but I always thought Neji admired Naruto.**

 **Sorry this chapter took so long to finish, don't really have a good excuse for why it was so delayed other than that Dragon Age Inquisition is extremely time consuming when you first get into it..**

 **Yes the decision to give him a mask was rushed and in all honesty I should have done it sooner. RadioPoisoning pointed it out in the second chapter and I agree that it should have been there all along. (But I'm too lazy to rewrite atm)**

 **What do you prefer: Might Guy or Maito Gai?**

 **I will also remind you that the poll for potential characters joining Akatsuki will be open until the Interlude arc ends!**

 **Anyway I hope this chapter was worth the wait! Please leave a review and tell me if you liked this chapter or if there is a mistake I should correct.**

 **I'll see you in the next chapter :)**

 **Ja né!**

 **Edited 12.04.2017: Added the part where Haku and Zabuza hunts down the other sound four members. Dunno how I did it but I somehow managed to completely forget to write it in before posting this chapter.. So thank you Antex – The legendary zoroark for pointing that out for me!**


End file.
